In Messages, can I stop sending “Read” receipts to a specific contact? I know that I can turn read receipts off or on for all contacts. I read an article online recently that showed in great detail how to turn off read receipts for a specific contact. The article was about two or three years old, but it appears that at one time iOS allowed the user to do as I’ve described. Was this feature available at one time, but now has been removed? I can’t duplicate the steps laid out in the article, so it seems I can’t do it any more.
I have one contact who sends me many more messages than I’d care to relate. I’d like NOT to let this contact know that I’ve read her messages.
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Lucas H
Yes. Go to the conversation in the Messages app. Tap on the icon of the recipient at the top of the conversation. Scroll down and look for Send Read Receipts.
I opened a conversation and tapped on the sender’s info. I do see a slider that lets me turn off notifications when I receive new messages from this sender. I do not see anything that relates to controlling read receipts.
Lucas: Sounds like you are in the wrong place. There is no "sidebar." The whole screen just shows: the sender's name, some buttons like Call/Video/Mail/Info. Then under that you may see Request Location, Share My Location, and then a list of switches. If you don't see that, what do you see instead? Also, which version of iOS?
iPhone 13 Pro Max; iOS ver 17.1.1. In the conversation, I see the contact's name & photo. I tap the name; now I see the photo & name, then buttons for Call/Video/Mail/Info. Below that I see a bar with a slider switch labeled "Show in Shared with You." Next down I see another slider switch labeled "Hide Alerts." If I turn that one on, I will no longer get alerts for new messages from this contact. Next I see a display of thumbnails of photos this contact has sent. That's all.
Lucas: If you only see that, then perhaps the conversation is not with someone who is using iMessage, but SMS? Read Receipts would only apply to others with iMessage.
You are exactly right! The contact I was looking at uses an Android phone. I looked at the contact sheet for a known iPhone user, and I see exactly what you described. Thank you!