Check marks beside messages in Telegram or privacy revisited

An important feature of any messenger is a possibility of not only sending a text, photos, videos and other files but also seeing them to be read by a conversation partner. This is what Telegram check marks are meant for. In other words, they allow a user to determine the current status of messages sent.    

Indicators of sending and reading messages

All files sent in a general or group chat in Pavel Durovʼs messenger, have two statuses:

• One check mark is an indicator of sending (a message is sent and stored on a cloud server but is still not read);
• Two check marks are an indicator of reading (a message is read – a conversation partner entered the application and opened a dialogue).

  It is reasonable to point out that one check mark does not mean that a file has already been delivered to your interlocutorʼs device. Nevertheless, after its sending to PC or a phone, a receiver gets a notification (that is, if these notifications are enabled in your account settings).   As for group chats, two check marks appear only if all community members have read a message in a dialogue box. In case if even one contact of a group has not visited a dialogue for any reason, a sender will see an indicator of sending (one check mark) beside a message.    

Check marks in Telegram and WhatsApp: where a functional is realized better

WhatsApp has a similar functional of messaging. Check marks are also used here. However, they notify of not only sending and reading but also delivering messages to your interlocutorʼs device. Some users consider such possibility to be an advantage of WhatsApp and think that Telegram compares poorly due to lacking of it.   Actually, everything is not as unequivocal as it seems. The main reason of the delivery report absence in Pavel Durovʼs messenger is its possibility of being used on several devices. If the service is simultaneously installed on PC, a smartphone and a tablet, it is not clear where a message was exactly delivered. So, a delivery report will provide little information in the given case.   One more reason of the delivery indicator absence In Telegram is the long-rumored privacy issue. A delivery report gives a sender some information which a receiver might want to conceal. For example, the delivery time can tell when a person entered the application. Surely, the last visit time is indicated in a userʼs status but the given information may be hidden if the necessity arises. In such a way, Telegram users can regulate the anonymity degree by themselves. The same cannot be said for WhatsApp clients.     Taking all the aforesaid into consideration, it is possible to conclude that the file delivery indicator available in WhatsApp is very useful for a sender. As for Telegram, its high-priority objective is to protect a receiver, realizing its privacy policy.  

Key reasons why a user has not read a new message

The absence of a report of reading a message sent does not mean that a receiver ignores it. There are several reasons why your conversation partner has still not read a new message in a dialogue:

• All devices with the application installed are turned off.
• Devices are turned on but the messenger is not launched.
• An interlocutor has some problems with an Internet connection.
• A sender is included into a receiver’s blacklist.
• Sanctions are imposed against a receiver’s account by administrators.
• A contact you want to connect with was deleted from Telegram.
• A server error took place (it happens quite rarely).

    You can see the time of sending beside a message sent. However, the time of reading is not supported by a standard Telegram functional that is connected with a privacy policy, as stated before. Theoretically, it is possible to establish the time of reading independently, taking into account ample opportunities for developers provided by API. Today, the given client is not publically available yet.