Right, this is how you sneakily read a WhatsApp group message without people knowing

A is bizarre – it'll let you turn off read receipts for individual messages so you can infinitely blank people on a one-to-one basis, but you can't do the same for group chats. When your flatmate is pass-agging you about that dish you left in the sink, or that money you owe them, or spilling some rich tea, sometimes you just don't want to let them know you've read it – those blue ticks are more trouble than their worth.

Reading a group chat without letting the group know is admittedly quite finicky, but ultimately very simple, here's what to do.

Step 1: Open WhatsApp, but don't open the message

No, really.

Okay we don't want to open this

You'll be able to see a preview of the most recent message, but not the whole thing. This is where the secret art of 3D touch comes in.

Step 2: Hold down on the group message

This uses the iPhone's weird 3D touch mechanic, which Apple Music also uses for basic functions like queuing up songs. Essentially, even though the screen doesn't press, you can apply more pressure to the screen and it can trigger additional responses from certain apps.

You'll be able to see the message, but it will still appear as 'unread'

With WhatsApp, you can press on chat previews to bring up a window of that chat. You can't scroll within the window, but the chat will continue to update while you have it open, meaning you can read up on whatever goss is flowing without people knowing you're reading it. Magical.

Step 3: DON'T press again

For reasons that escape me, if you press once again on the screen, the chat will display in full and you'll have technically read it, so be gentle with your screen – otherwise your covert plan will go straight down the shitter.

These are the sorts of texts you want to dodge

And there you have it. That's how you sneakily read your group chats.

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