WhatsApp has become the standard form of communication for many of us in this modern, digital age. Millions of smartphone users around the world now opt for WhatsApp over regular text messaging, as it is a quick and easy way of communicating with other users without cost.
The app boasts over 2bn users every month, according to market and consumer data company Statista – this is more than twice the amount of Facebook Messenger users. Though it is free, easy to use and convenient, it may sometimes be necessary to block someone from contacting you on the app.
But what happens when you do block someone on WhatsApp? Here is everything you need to know.
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New messages
WhatsApp will not let the other user know they have been blocked. They will still see you in their contacts list and be able to open the conversation you both share, but any messages they send to you will not be delivered.
Instead, the blocked contact will just see a single grey tick next to their message, meaning the message has not been delivered to you. Likewise, any messages you send to the blocked contact will not deliver, WhatsApp will advise you to unblock the contact if you want to message them.
WhatsApp calls
Just as a blocked contact cannot message you on WhatsApp, they cannot call you either. They can still make the call, but it will not get through to you.
As with messages, you can still attempt to call the blocked user, but WhatsApp will tell you to unblock them before you can make the call.
Read receipts
One useful feature of WhatsApp is its read receipts. When you send a message on the app, you can see several different types of tick next to the message, indicating its delivery status.
A single grey tick means the message is yet to be delivered; two grey ticks means a message has been delivered but not been read by the recipient; two blue ticks means the recipient has received and read the message. When a blocked contact sends a message, they will see a single grey tick, showing them that the message has not been delivered.
Online status
Unless deactivated in a user’s settings, WhatsApp lets people know when a contact last used the app. This can be seen at the top of the chat window underneath the user’s name and will either say ‘Online’ or ‘last seen’ followed by the time they were most recently on WhatsApp.
When a contact is blocked, they will not see if you are online or when you were last seen, rather where that information normally appears will remain blank. You will also not see the blocked contact’s ‘Online’ or ‘last seen’ status.
Profile picture
A blocked contact cannot see your profile picture and will just see WhatsApp’s default profile picture of a white figure against a grey background. However, you will still be able to see the profile picture of the blocked contact.
Status and about
WhatsApp allows users to update the status on their ‘About’ page to let other users know what they are doing. Your ‘About’ status can be changed to show you are ‘Busy’, ‘At the movies’ or ‘In a meeting’ amongst others.
If you have blocked a contact on WhatsApp, they will not be able to view your ‘About’ status, but you will still be able to see theirs.
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