Have you ever ignored a WhatsApp message in order to prevent your contacts from seeing you online and asking you for signs of life? A contact who is waiting for your reply to their message sent a few hours ago, but you don't intend to reply because you don't want to start a long conversation? There is a way (or even two) to avoid this kind of situation, so here are two tricks that will allow you to reply to a message without appearing online in order to prevent friends (or an ex) from pestering you.
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Reply from a notification (or from your smartwatch)
Answer while offline
Bonus: Read a WhatsApp message in Incognito mode with Unseen
Reply from a notification (or from your smartwatch)
If you have a smartphone running Android Nougat or higher, the easiest way is to reply to the message directly from the notification. Open the drop-down menu and reply to the message without opening the app, but instead by clicking the Reply button in the notification.
Or, if you have an Android Wear smartwatch, you can respond to WhatsApp messages directly from the watch and be safe from appearing online. This is even the case if you reply to the message without clicking on Reply by just looking at the whole conversation.
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Click Reply from within the notification or use your smartwatch to avoid your friends knowing you're online. / © AndroidPIT
Answer while offline
Disable all connections to the internet (Wi-Fi and the mobile network) on your smartphone.
Open WhatsApp and the conversation you're interested in replying in.
Write and send your reply.
Close WhatsApp.
Reconnect to the internet (reactivate Wi-Fi or the mobile network connection).
WhatsApp will send the message without you ever appearing online.
Bonus: Read a WhatsApp message in Incognito mode with Unseen
Unseen is an app that allows you to view WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber and Facebook Messenger messages without appearing online. This trick will not allow you to reply to messages while offline, but only read received messages without others knowing. You can then take your time before answering.
Each time you receive a notification from your messaging apps, you’ll receive an Unseen alert that you can customize with different colors. By clicking on the WhatsApp tab, you can read the message and your contact will only know you read the message when you click Reply in WhatsApp. You will then be redirected to the WhatsApp app and you will be visible again. Side note: the app doesn’t always work properly with groups.
