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I really hate the online notification in WhatsApp because it's not possible to disable it. Even Facebook lets you appear offline if you want to. It's been a sta

I really hate the online notification in WhatsApp because it's not possible to disable it. Even Facebook lets you appear offline if you want to. It's been a standard feature of messaging apps since pretty much as long as they've existed. Why whatsapp chose to make this setting like this has always just made my brain hurt. Does anyone actually like that every time you open WhatsApp any person who has WhatsApp installed and has your number in their contact list, they can see that you opened the app with zero way to disable it? That would be bad enough on a desktop app, on a mobile app it's completely and utterly fucked.

bellyfullofbac 6y ago
I wonder what status your contacts see if you have WhatsApp Web open... If someone really needs a workaround, a hack would be to have a browser instance somewhere connected to WA Web and if necessary some sort of virtual mouse randomly clicking contacts so WA thinks you're actually active. That way you'll always appear online to your contacts, and they won't know what your real status is.
- g_p 6y ago
  Whatsapp web doesn't seem to update the presence status, as I've seen people ask why others are able to reply without their last-online time updating.
  - bellyfullofbac 6y ago
    Testing it yesterday with 2 phones/accounts, I do see my account coming online when I switch the focus to the WA web tab. When I switch tabs, after a while it says "last seen...".
amelius 6y ago
Yes, I hate it too. My boss doesn't need to know when I'm texting, and they can see this even if they don't use any cyberstalking software.
prpl 6y ago
I turn off wifi and cell service if I want to open the app surreptitiously. I’m not sure if it reports “last seen” in that scenario but at least there is one way to check the app without reporting.
- grawprog 6y ago
  Yeah I do that too. It's a hacky work around though and I'm still not entirely sure it won't show you online briefly once you turn data on again. I know it shows you as online if you answer a message using the notification bar. I tested that one. It happens as soon as you click reply.
  - bellyfullofbac 6y ago
    Having 2 phones and 2 accounts I just checked. I opened Whatsapp at xx:00, other phone says "Last seen xx:00". Put phone to airplane mode, and at xx:03 I opened WhatsApp in that mode, then put WA on background (without "killing" it from the task switcher) and I immediately turned off airplane mode. I checked on the other phone, and it still said "Last seen at xx:00". So, it seems that line is honest, since I was on airplane mode, the network didn't "see" me.
    - grawprog 6y ago
      That's good to know at least. Honestly, I get overly paranoid sometimes about such things. It's hard to know what apps do in the background these days.
segmondy 6y ago
You can disable it so other's don't know if you're online, you also won't be able to see if other's are online. Settings, Account, Privacy, Last seen - (options are everyone, my contacts, nobody). Set it to nobody You can also turn off your read receipts.
- miek 6y ago
  Unfortunately, this doesn't work. That setting change prevents people from seeing "last seen", which is different than "online". The article talks about this as well.
- praseodym 6y ago
  This still exposes whether you are online, just not the last seen time.
- ffpip 6y ago
  > You can disable it so other's don't know if you're online You cannot do this. Hiding "last seen" does not stop whatsapp from showing you online. It will always show you as online (even to people not in your contacts) if you open the app while being connected to the internet.
gambiting 6y ago
Wait, WhatsApp has status notifications??
deleted 6y ago
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bellyfullofbac 6y ago

I wonder what status your contacts see if you have WhatsApp Web open... If someone really needs a workaround, a hack would be to have a browser instance somewhere connected to WA Web and if necessary some sort of virtual mouse randomly clicking contacts so WA thinks you're actually active. That way you'll always appear online to your contacts, and they won't know what your real status is.

g_p 6y ago
Whatsapp web doesn't seem to update the presence status, as I've seen people ask why others are able to reply without their last-online time updating.
- bellyfullofbac 6y ago
  Testing it yesterday with 2 phones/accounts, I do see my account coming online when I switch the focus to the WA web tab. When I switch tabs, after a while it says "last seen...".

amelius 6y ago

Yes, I hate it too. My boss doesn't need to know when I'm texting, and they can see this even if they don't use any cyberstalking software.

prpl 6y ago

I turn off wifi and cell service if I want to open the app surreptitiously. I’m not sure if it reports “last seen” in that scenario but at least there is one way to check the app without reporting.

grawprog 6y ago
Yeah I do that too. It's a hacky work around though and I'm still not entirely sure it won't show you online briefly once you turn data on again. I know it shows you as online if you answer a message using the notification bar. I tested that one. It happens as soon as you click reply.
- bellyfullofbac 6y ago
  Having 2 phones and 2 accounts I just checked. I opened Whatsapp at xx:00, other phone says "Last seen xx:00". Put phone to airplane mode, and at xx:03 I opened WhatsApp in that mode, then put WA on background (without "killing" it from the task switcher) and I immediately turned off airplane mode. I checked on the other phone, and it still said "Last seen at xx:00". So, it seems that line is honest, since I was on airplane mode, the network didn't "see" me.
  - grawprog 6y ago
    That's good to know at least. Honestly, I get overly paranoid sometimes about such things. It's hard to know what apps do in the background these days.

segmondy 6y ago

You can disable it so other's don't know if you're online, you also won't be able to see if other's are online. Settings, Account, Privacy, Last seen - (options are everyone, my contacts, nobody). Set it to nobody You can also turn off your read receipts.

miek 6y ago
Unfortunately, this doesn't work. That setting change prevents people from seeing "last seen", which is different than "online". The article talks about this as well.
praseodym 6y ago
This still exposes whether you are online, just not the last seen time.
ffpip 6y ago
> You can disable it so other's don't know if you're online You cannot do this. Hiding "last seen" does not stop whatsapp from showing you online. It will always show you as online (even to people not in your contacts) if you open the app while being connected to the internet.

gambiting 6y ago

Wait, WhatsApp has status notifications??

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]