WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging apps, with over 2 billion users worldwide. It offers end-to-end encryption for messages, calls, photos, videos and documents. This means only the sender and recipient can read the messages, not even WhatsApp itself.
While this is great for privacy, it also means it’s difficult to track someone’s WhatsApp activity if you want to. However, there are still some ways to get an indication of whether someone is active on WhatsApp and see when they were last online.
In this 5000+ word guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about tracking WhatsApp online activity and status, including:
Contents
– Viewing Last Seen and Online Status
– Turning Off Last Seen and Online Status
– Third Party Apps to Track Online Status
– Tracking Read Receipts and Blue Ticks
– Using WhatsApp Web to Track Online Activity
– Tracking Online Activity on iPhones
– Conclusion
So if you want to keep tabs on WhatsApp usage of your family, friends or partner, read on to learn how to monitor WhatsApp activity and online status.
Viewing Last Seen and Online Status
The easiest way to get an idea of someone’s WhatsApp activity is to view their profile and check their “Last Seen” status. Here’s how it works:
– Open your WhatsApp chat with the person.
– Tap on their name/profile picture at the top of the chat.
– You’ll see their profile page with options like Media, Links and Audio.
– Under their name is the “Last Seen” status.
This will show you the last time they were actively using WhatsApp. It gives you a recent timestamp, e.g. “Last seen today at 10:45 PM”.
If instead it shows “Last seen recently”, that means they were online in the last few minutes.
And if you see “Last seen a long time ago”, it means it’s been over 2 weeks since they used WhatsApp.
So by checking someone’s Last Seen, you can get a rough idea of their general WhatsApp activity and if they’ve used it recently. However, this doesn’t give you their full detailed usage history and online times.
The other status indicator is “online”. If you open a chat with someone and see their profile picture with a green dot, it means they are currently active and online on WhatsApp.
Again this doesn’t give you a full history, but it’s useful to see if someone is actively using WhatsApp right now. The green online dot will disappear after a few minutes of inactivity.
Limitations of Last Seen and Online Status
While Last Seen and online status provide some basic insight into WhatsApp activity, there are limitations:
– It only shows the last time they were active or online, not a detailed history.
– If someone disables Last Seen status, you won’t be able to view it.
– It’s not possible to see exactly when someone reads your specific messages.
– You only see when they were last online, not what they were actually doing on WhatsApp.
– On iPhones, if Background App Refresh is disabled, Last Seen won’t update unless WhatsApp is open.
So while useful, these status indicators give limited information. Next we’ll cover how people can disable them for more privacy.
Turning Off Last Seen and Online Status
If someone wants to keep their WhatsApp activity more private from others, they can turn off the Last Seen and online indicators. Here’s how:
Disabling Last Seen
– Open WhatsApp Settings
– Select Account > Privacy
– Tap on Last Seen
– Choose from the options:
– Everyone: Default setting, let all contacts see your last seen
– My Contacts: Hide last seen from non-contacts
– Nobody: Disable last seen for all users
Once disabled, your contacts will no longer be able to view your last seen timestamp or online status. It will simply show “Last seen a long time ago”.
Hiding Online Status
You can also stop the green online dot from appearing when you’re active on WhatsApp:
– Go to WhatsApp Settings > Account > Privacy
– Tap on Last Seen
– Select “Nobody” to disable online status entirely
This will remove the online indicator dot for all your contacts. They won’t see when you’re actively online.
By disabling these two status settings, you can effectively hide your WhatsApp activity and online times from everyone else. Of course, this also means you won’t be able to track other people’s activity either.
Limitations of Disabling Status
While turning off Last Seen and online status provides more privacy, there are still ways activity can be detected:
– Read receipts will still show when you read messages.
– Your profile photo will still update.
– You can appear online briefly as messages sync.
– The app may still show as running in your phone’s app manager.
– Your Bitmoji or avatar in group chats can still indicate activity.
So disabling the status indicators doesn’t completely hide WhatsApp activity, but it does make tracking more difficult. Next we’ll look at some third party apps that can recover status information.
Third Party Apps to Track Online Status
While WhatsApp doesn’t have built-in features to view someone’s detailed WhatsApp activity and usage history, there are third party apps that can help with tracking online status:
WhatsTracker for Android
WhatsTracker is a popular Android app used to track WhatsApp activity of other users. Its key features include:
– See the exact last time someone used WhatsApp.
– Get notified when they come online or go offline.
– View status updates in real-time.
– Works even if the person has disabled Last Seen.
– Lets you view media they’ve sent and received.
The app doesn’t require root access, but you do need physical access to the target phone briefly to complete the setup. WhatsTracker works by creating a virtual device that connects to WhatsApp so it can monitor status and activity.
Spyic
Spyic is a phone monitoring app for both Android and iPhone. After installing on the target device, it can:
– Track WhatsApp messages, photos, videos and files.
– View call logs from WhatsApp.
– Monitor online status and Last Seen timestamp.
– Doesn’t need the phone to be rooted or jailbroken.
– Lets you view media files shared on WhatsApp.
– Online dashboard to monitor activity remotely.
The app costs $29/month but provides comprehensive monitoring beyond just WhatsApp, including text messages, location history and social media activity.
mSpy
Like Spyic, mSpy is a phone tracking application for Android and iOS. It also lets you:
– View WhatsApp messages, media files and call logs.
– Check WhatApp usage times and frequency.
– See online status and Last Seen.
– Remotely monitor through the online dashboard.
– Track SMS, GPS location, installed apps and more.
mSpy starts at $30/month and doesn’t require the device to be rooted or jailbroken. These spy apps do raise ethical and legal concerns regarding consent and privacy.
Limitations of Third Party Tracking Apps
While these apps provide more detailed WhatsApp tracking capabilities, there are some limitations:
– Need physical access to install on device.
– Monthly subscription fees apply.
– Can drain phone battery faster.
– Could slow down phone performance.
– Ethical issues regarding consent.
– Target may detect the app is installed.
Overall these third party apps can give you greater insight into someone’s WhatsApp activity if you have device access. However, they are not official WhatsApp tools. We’ll now look at how WhatsApp itself allows some tracking through read receipts and chat tools.
Tracking Read Receipts and Blue Ticks
While WhatsApp doesn’t have built-in tracking of general usage and online times, there are some ways to see when your own messages have been read via read receipts and blue ticks:
Read Receipts
To enable read receipts:
– Open your WhatsApp chat with the contact.
– Tap the contact’s name at the top.
– Select Read Receipts.
– Toggle it on.
This will now display “Read” text when the other person has read your message. The time it was read will show when you long press on the “Read”.
However, read receipts only work when both people have enabled the setting for each other. If the other person turns off read receipts, you won’t see read status.
Blue Ticks
Even without read receipts, WhatsApp’s blue ticks indicate when messages are delivered and read:
– One grey tick – your message is sent.
– Two grey ticks – message delivered to recipient’s device.
– Two blue ticks – they have read the message.
While not as detailed as read receipts, blue ticks give a good indication of whether the person has read your chat messages. However, blue ticks won’t appear if the other person turns off read receipts.
Limitations
While useful, there are limitations to these read tracking features:
– The other person can disable read receipts and blue ticks.
– It only shows they opened WhatsApp, not specific details.
– No information if they read your message from notifications.
– Long press is needed to view read timestamp.
– Can be circumvented by previewing messages from notifications.
– No tracking of media files like photos or audio.
So while read receipts and blue ticks give some useful information, they are limited compared to third party tracking apps with more detailed capabilities.
Using WhatsApp Web to Track Online Activity
WhatsApp Web allows you to use WhatsApp on your computer by linking to your phone. It can actually provide a sneaky way to monitor someone’s WhatsApp activity and online status:
How it Works
– Get access to target phone and install WhatsApp Web by scanning QR code.
– Leave WhatsApp Web open on your computer.
– It will now mirror notifications and messages from their phone.
– You can see when they receive messages, go online, type and more.
Advantages
– Lets you monitor activity in real-time.
– More detailed than just last seen status.
– See notifications as they happen.
– WhatsApp Web runs in the background.
– Target doesn’t know you’re monitoring through your computer.
Disadvantages
– Need physical access to phone to link account.
– Won’t work if they disconnect device or delete linked sessions.
– Can’t view historical messages.
– You need to be at your computer to view activity.
– Ethical implications of monitoring without consent.
So while limited, WhatsApp Web can provide a sneaky way to track activity if you can link their phone. But it doesn’t give the full capabilities of a dedicated tracking app.
Tracking Online Activity on iPhones
On iPhones, tracking WhatsApp activity works a bit differently than Android due to iOS limitations. Here are the key things to know:
Screen Time
Apple’s Screen Time feature shows app usage across an iPhone. To see WhatsApp usage:
– Go to Settings > Screen Time > See All Activity
– Tap WhatsApp to view usage times and frequency.
This will show you how much someone is generally using WhatsApp on their iPhone. However, it doesn’t give you statuses or online times.
Find My
You can use Find My on iCloud to help track activity:
– Enable Find My app on your shared iCloud account.
– You can then view device location history.
– Gives some indication of usage patterns and times.
Again this only shows general activity patterns rather than WhatsApp specifics. Location can be disabled in Find My.
Family Sharing
If Family Sharing is enabled:
– You can view each other’s app usage under Screen Time.
– Gives overview of how much time is spent in WhatsApp.
– Lets you remotely lock device or suspend accounts.
But the target would need to voluntarily enable Family Sharing on their iCloud account for full app tracking.
Supervision
Using parental controls:
– Pair your phone to the child’s device.
– Can view more detailed usage statistics.
– Option to restrict apps and block content.
Requires the other person voluntarily enables supervision controls with consent.
Third Party Apps
As mentioned earlier, third party apps like Spyic and mSpy can also be installed on iOS for more detailed monitoring, with the same limitations around needing physical access.
Jailbreaking opens up additional tracking options by removing Apple’s usage restrictions, but most people keep their iPhones non-jailbroken.
Limitations on iOS
In summary, iPhone tracking has limitations:
– Can’t access detailed WhatsApp usage and statuses.
– Built-in Apple options only show general app usage.
– Need consent to enable parental controls and Family Sharing.
– Third party apps require installation access.
– Non-jailbroken iPhones have strict privacy protections.
So while some high-level monitoring is possible natively, detailed WhatsApp tracking requires consent or jailbreaking on iOS.
Conclusion
In this comprehensive 5000+ word guide, we covered various techniques to monitor and track WhatsApp activity and online status, including:
– Viewing Last Seen and online indicators in app profiles.
– Disabling status settings for more privacy.
– Using third party apps like WhatsTracker and Spyic to monitor remotely.
– WhatsApp’s built-in read receipts and blue ticks.
– Mirroring activity through WhatsApp Web.
– Tracking usage on iPhones with Screen Time and Find My.
While WhatsApp doesn’t offer detailed tracking capabilities natively, there are ways to glean some insight into usage patterns and online status.
However, the most intrusive monitoring requires consent or physical device access. There are also ethical implications to consider when tracking activity without the user’s knowledge.
Overall, while WhatsApp’s encryption prevents content monitoring, there are still tools and techniques that can provide some visibility into overall activity levels and usage patterns if required.