Both Whatsapp and BBM have double tick marks after each message but until today these tick marks have different significance. For Whatsapp, it means that the message has been received by the recipient whereas in the case of BBM, it means that the recipient has read the message.

But Whatsapp finally updated its protocol with a double blue tick mark to indicate the message has been read. A single grey tick now represents that the message has been successfully sent, while two grey ticks mean it has been delivered successfully. Once the ticks turn blue, the recipient has read the message. By pressing on a particular message and selecting “info”, one is able to check the time the message was received and read.

Hopefully the next update will feature Voice Calling and an improved mechanism of blocking users. It would be ideal if Whatsapp could introduce a feature whereby all messages are blocked unless the sender’s contact details are present in the user’s address book.