Messages read receipts bug is sending them even when switched off

A Messages read receipts bug means that recipients may be able to see when you’ve read a message, even if you have the feature switched off in your settings …

Read receipts are a way to let a sender know when their message has been read by the recipient. With the setting on, the status shown to senders changes from Delivered to Read.

Some people prefer to switch that off. For example, some consider it rude if you read their message but don’t promptly reply. Disabling read receipts can be a way of avoiding causing inadvertent offense if you don’t have time to reply immediately.

However, Macworld reports that there’s an apparent bug affecting some users.

A number of people report that with Send Read Receipts disabled on their devices, people can still see when they read messages. This problem has cropped up seemingly briefly with previous releases of iOS and iPadOS, but I see a spate of reports with iOS 15, including the latest updates, in which people have a mismatch between their setting and other people being made aware of their status.

For now, it’s a bug with no particular resolution. Some people have found restarting their iPhone or iPad provides relief, at least temporarily.

If you want to check your own setting, you’ll find it in Settings > Messages, then scroll down to Send Read Receipts.

It’s unclear how many people are affected, but it’s likely that Apple will fix it in a coming update.

In addition to bug fixes, we’ve suggested a number of potential improvements to the app. These include the ability to use bold and italics, more tapback options, the ability to search for emoji, and a means of easily catching up on group messages.

The app puts you at the most recent message sent in the group chat, which means that to catch yourself up, you are required to load the history of messages already sent to find where you left off. You’re also forced back to the bottom of the chat when a new message comes if you’re reading what you missed.

Photo: Mariia Shalabaieva/Unsplash