I always assumed that the first checkmark indicates "delivered" and the second one "read", since right after you post it it shows a clock-symbol.
also interesting, that i assume with current network speeds sent=delivered.
First checkmark confirms it hit store and forward servers. I prefer second checkmark to indicate delivery, as I care less if someone read it and more if it just made it to their device.
Definitely. You want confirmation it got to someplace same until delivered to the recipient. 1 check for got to server, 1 check for delivered to recipient device, and then "Read" underneath the furthest part of the conversation that has been read. Or I'm just crazy and niche.
Personally "It left the phone" state is very important to me, esp., when I am travelling and network connectivity is intermittent.
Also "Message Read" is a very ambiguous state according to me - If the content of a message is read from the notification drop down, but user never opened whatsapp to read it - is it read, or not ?
User you are sending to could be underground/out of signal range/have 3G disabled. I like having a separate delivered confirmation and I would prefer not to have people see what I have read.
What I learned from this is a great way to prototype/demo and share an idea before building the whole app. The three improvements you suggest - 1) re-sharing in groups 2) read confirmation in groups and 3) saving - aren't the pain points that I have.
Personally, my pain is just p2p sharing with a person sitting in front (or next to me) - I want the app to understand (say, when both users press a button - its like scanning for a nearby bluetooth connection) to add a person on my whatsapp, allow me send stuff (pics), share a contact, or share a meeting invite - stuff like that. WhatsApp would be great to do this. Proximity-based p2p connections should be quite easy, and apps could make it "feel" more automatic/magical.
Looks like I am in the minority but I don't like the drag to share action. You would need to long press the message as you need to do right now in the current app. Pressing the forward button and then tapping on the person/group's name (the current implementation) is much easier to me. Specially with the ever increasing size of phones. I would be always worried about dropping the photo/message on the wrong group/person's bucket.
As others have pointed out, the double check is not read confirmation but is delivery confirmation. I like the way FB messenger does it right now instead of the colors that you have. I don't think it would scale very well. The average size of the groups that I am part of on WhatsApp right now is about 10.
Notes/bookmark feature is fine but I don't know how much would I use it until I start using it.
Why are empty circles even necessary for the read status of a message? If the colors and names are known at the top, then you only need to show which ones have read the message as filled circles and those who haven't will be known as the difference.
Honest question: Can I use the "last seen" time as a rough proxy for "they have read your message"? I've been wondering this for a while.
At least on Android, my 'last seen' counter doesn't update until WhatApp is brought to the foreground on my chat partner's phone, which is normally a good sign that they have read my message. If they just see the notification but don't open the app my 'last seen' counter does not update
the current implementation leaves room for speculation. especially, since others have pointed out, two checkmarks only show that it has been delivered.
the "last online" time means (AFAIK) the last time the user was using the app (could also be in a different chat).
What I really want is a desktop version of WhatsApp. I have a lot of conversations on there and typing on a piece of glass is just never as efficient as typing on a laptop. I haven't been able to find a desktop client that isn't blatantly laden with spam or viruses. I might take a stab at building one myself. I'd be curious if anyone has already reverse-engineered their backend API.
my guess would be that every whatsapp account is associated with only one phone number, and you might have to introduce a separate layer of identification.
personally, i like having one reliable messenger on one device.
There is already an instant chat solution with both desktop and mobile clients: Skype. Whatsapp is useless to me, and, I suspect, most people in the US. Out of ~1200 contacts in my phone, 11 are currently registered with Whatsapp. I suspect a desktop client would be useful in Europe, India, etc. but be prepared to spend some real money on internationalization.
I didn't say it was useless to everyone. I just said that it's pretty clear that it has a relatively small US footprint, and language fragmentation in Europe - where Whatsapp is pervasive and useful - is a significant issue. Thus writing a desktop client isn't as simple as it would appear to be at first glance.
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[ 176 ms ] story [ 1676 ms ] threadhttps://www.whatsapp.com/faq/en/general/20951546
Also "Message Read" is a very ambiguous state according to me - If the content of a message is read from the notification drop down, but user never opened whatsapp to read it - is it read, or not ?
AFAIK the only way to know if someone's read your message is to assume based on their last time online.
[Edit: fixed stupidity]
I also expeimented with more checkmarks, or colored lines that come down and show read progress for individuals (like a race).
there would also be more information when you click the status bar of the chat.
Personally, my pain is just p2p sharing with a person sitting in front (or next to me) - I want the app to understand (say, when both users press a button - its like scanning for a nearby bluetooth connection) to add a person on my whatsapp, allow me send stuff (pics), share a contact, or share a meeting invite - stuff like that. WhatsApp would be great to do this. Proximity-based p2p connections should be quite easy, and apps could make it "feel" more automatic/magical.
As others have pointed out, the double check is not read confirmation but is delivery confirmation. I like the way FB messenger does it right now instead of the colors that you have. I don't think it would scale very well. The average size of the groups that I am part of on WhatsApp right now is about 10.
Notes/bookmark feature is fine but I don't know how much would I use it until I start using it.
At least on Android, my 'last seen' counter doesn't update until WhatApp is brought to the foreground on my chat partner's phone, which is normally a good sign that they have read my message. If they just see the notification but don't open the app my 'last seen' counter does not update
the "last online" time means (AFAIK) the last time the user was using the app (could also be in a different chat).
personally, i like having one reliable messenger on one device.
One year ago WhatsApp had 400 million active users.
Skype has 663 million registered users, out of which 280 million are active monthly users.