Among messaging platforms, WhatsApp is one of the best for personal and official use. With it, you can discuss with anyone while protecting your messages with end-to-end encryption. But, it will be even better if WhatsApp can notify when someone is online.
You see, users don’t have time to check their app frequently to see if a person is online. It may not be much if you only use it occasionally to chat with friends and family.
However, if WhatsApp is your serious platform of communication and the online status of someone is very important to you, then a reminder would be absolutely wonderful.
Though you can check such a status after opening the application, not everyone has time to do this. And some privacy settings on the app even prevent you from seeing such.
So, this blog will discuss whether WhatsApp will notify you when someone is online and the alternatives you can use if that’s not the case. Meanwhile, let’s also learn to join a WhatsApp group with a QR code if interested.
Table Of Contents
How can you know that Someone is Online on WhatsApp?
You can know if someone goes online on WhatsApp by looking at some obvious indicators. They can be direct and indirect depending on the users’ privacy settings.
So, let’s look at a few of them to see if a person is actually online or recently using WhatsApp. Remember, these methods below allow you to know if someone is online without notifying you.
1. Look at the “Online” Indicator
The first thing to know if someone is online on WhatsApp is to look at the “Online” sign. For this, open the conversation box by tapping its contact name from the inbox. Now, look at the top of the box right below that person’s name. If you see the “Online” label, that person is currently actively using the app.
2. Last Seen Status
Another thing that lets you know if the person is active or not is looking at their last seen status. Like before, look at the top of their conversation box right below their name. If you see a text like “Last seen yesterday at…“, then that person was recently online at that day and time.
3. Read Receipts
The two indicators above won’t work if your friend has turned off the last seen status on their WP account. In such cases, send a simple message (say “Hi”, “Good Morning”, etc.) and look at the checkmark on that message. If you see the blue double tickmark, that person is online and has seen your text.
A grey double checkmark means that the person is connected to the internet but hasn’t seen your message and it has already been delivered. If you only see a single grey checkmark on that message, it means the person isn’t online yet.
4. Typing Indicator
Another method to know if someone goes online is to look at the typing indicator. Though this method isn’t that helpful compared to others, it still indicates your friend’s active status.
So, look at the top, below their name, and see if there is a text saying “typing..”. If there is, that person is currently online and typing a message to you.
Overall, it is very easy to know the online status of someone if they haven’t disabled their privacy settings. And even if this is the case, you can still know by applying some tricks.
Also Read: Does WhatsApp Notify Screenshots Of Chat?
Does WhatsApp Notify When Someone Is Online?
Unfortunately, WhatsApp doesn’t notify when someone is online. You can only open your app and look personally at each account to know if a person is active.
To know if someone is active, look at their online status, last seen, read receipts, and typing indicator. So, it isn’t that hard to know an account’s status on this platform.
However, not everyone has time to look at each account for this, nor do they care that much. In fact, unlike other platforms (like Facebook), WhatsApp doesn’t even have a separate page showing active users.
For this part, this platform is lacking seriously. But again, since this app doesn’t need the online status to communicate actively, the effect is still minimal.
However, various situations require you to see if someone is online. And if it is possible to receive a notification immediately without needing to open the app, then it will save time and effort.
If users have such a feature, they can enjoy real-time communication, improved connectivity, reduced time wastage, prompt response, etc.
However, it may also jeopardize the privacy of another user. So, it is a necessary evil with both advantages and disadvantages.
Though WhatsApp does not have an official feature for this (and it does not appear to be coming soon), you can only look at unofficial third-party software, which will be discussed in the following section.
How to get a Notification if Someone is Online on WhatsApp?
Since no feature on WhatsApp lets you notify if a person is online, you must use third-party apps or software to do so.
There are many such third-party application on Google Play Store or App Store that is useful for this situation. You can type in “WhatsApp online notifier” on the search bar, and you will see a list of such apps.
Now, look at the ratings and reviews from other users on each of them and choose a good one. After installing and setting it up, lock a contact, and you will get a notification once they are online.
Disclaimer: Using third-party apps or non-official software on WhatsApp is against the privacy policy and community guidelines. Additionally, there is a high risk of a data breach. So, it is best to conduct thorough research and only use it when you have sufficient trust, and this feature is critical to you.
There is also some spy software you can install on your friend’s phone that lets you know their online status immediately. But since it is against that person’s privacy, it is best not to use them.
Another way to get notified when someone is online is to install the mods like GBWhatsApp. They are unofficial apps but let you use the feature not available on the official one.
Note: Though you can use third-party applications to track the online status of someone, most of them won’t properly work if they have turned off their “Last seen” status.
Also Read: How To Use WhatsApp Web In Mobile Phone?
What are the Privacy Settings for Online Status on WhatsApp?
Privacy settings for online status on WhatsApp include the active indicator, last seen time frame, and read receipts.
This indicator lets anyone quickly know if someone is active on this app. It is very useful for users wanting to know about a contact’s availability.
However, it isn’t the case for the other party. What should you do if you don’t want others to know you’re active? You may want to protect your privacy, reduce social pressure, avoid unnecessary discussions, stop interruptions, prevent tracking, and many more.
Showing your active status in every situation isn’t a good idea. Sometimes, it might be more harmful than good.
But don’t worry; WhatsApp does let its user customize the privacy settings for online status. You can hide or show it to your contacts as you want anytime. Let’s talk about it in another section.
How to Hide Your Online Status on WhatsApp?
Since many users don’t want to let others know that they are active, WhatsApp lets them hide their online status on privacy settings.
To hide the online status, open the WhatsApp app on your Android Mobile Phone and tap three dots from the top right corner. Next, select the “Settings” option and then “Account” on the next page.
Now, select the “Privacy” option to customize your privacy. After that, press the “Last seen” option and change it from “Everyone” to “Nobody.” You can also limit this to specific contacts.
After this, you can also disable the “Read receipts” option on the privacy page for further security.
If you have an iPhone, you can tap the “Settings” tab from the lower right side and then go to Accounts >> Privacy >> Last seen. Now, do the same things as above, and your active status will disappear. You can also turn off the “Read receipts” option.
After doing all this, nobody will be able to see if you are online or the time when you are active. Furthermore, they can’t know if you have read the message yet since the “Read receipts” option is disabled. So, this is the perfect way to hide the active status on WhatsApp.
Remember that hiding the online status works both ways. It means once you hide this on your account, you also won’t see the active status of other people’s accounts. So, you should only do this when it is necessary.
FAQs
No, WhatsApp doesn’t notify you when someone is online. To see the active status, you must manually open the conversation box of each contact and look at it personally.
No, you cannot see when someone is online on WhatsApp without them knowing. When you open a conversation and check their online status, they will see that you are also online if they look at your chat box.
However, if you disable the “Last seen” status as soon you look at their online status and they aren’t actively looking at your conversation on WhatsApp, then this is possible. However, this is very situational and isn’t foolproof.
You can send a message to someone who has disabled their online status to find out if they are active. You can find their online status on WhatsApp by looking at the checkmark icon (double blue, double grey, and single checkmark).
Yes, many third-party apps on the market provide real-time online status notifications from WhatsApp. However, since they are unofficial, there is a high risk of data theft and fraud when using such applications. So, be careful.
Wrapping Up
In conclusion, though there is no notification when someone comes online on WhatsApp, you can still find out about it by looking at their conversation box.
And if you want the notification for your situation, you can always use third-party software. However, be careful using them, and don’t give your sensitive info to anyone.
Overall, have fun when using WhatsApp and use alternatives rather than searching for features that are not available. While at it, let’s also learn to remove frequently contacted on WhatsApp.
