Instagram is finally testing a feature that will let users turn off read receipts for Instagram DMs. This way, even if you have read someone’s message, they won’t see the “seen” label below the message.
Both Mark Zuckerberg and Adam Mosseri announced this feature on their broadcast channels.
“We heard your feedback and have started testing a new feature that lets you turn read receipts off in your DMs. Soon, people will be able to choose when to let others see when they’ve read their messages,” Mosseri said in the message.
Instagram’s head posted a screenshot of the Privacy & Safety menu for direct messages. You can access this menu by tapping on the name of the profile under a chat. If users are part of the test, they will see a toggle to turn off read receipts under the “Who can see your activity” section.
Meta didn’t specify in what capacity the company is testing these features and when it will roll out to all users.
Instagram is really late in releasing this feature, considering the Meta-owned app WhatsApp launched the ability to turn off read receipts in 2014.
The company also plans to roll out default end-to-end encryption protection for Instagram DMs once it finishes that feature’s rollout for Messenger. In August, Meta said that the company aims to finish work on enabling end-to-end encryption by default on Messenger by the end of the year.
