Want to know how to read Kik messages without the sender knowing? Want to know how to tell if someone has blocked you on Kik? This post shows you how!
Kik has quickly become one of the most popular chat apps in the world. The social network seemed to have sprung out of nowhere and it has overtaken many other wannabe platforms to be the chat app of choice for millions of people. I use it all the time as an alternative to WhatsApp. It’s fast, it’s unidentifiable, and it has a community of millions. What’s not to like?
Kik uses a simple system to show you when a message is sent, received, and read. When you see an ‘S’ over the message, it has been sent. When it changes to a ‘D’, it has been delivered. It isn’t until the D changes to ‘R’ that you know the person you sent the message to has read that message.
But what if you want to read a message without triggering that change to ‘R’?
Read Kik messages without notifying the sender
Kik system messages are automatic, so there isn’t too much you can do. You can game the system, though, which can fool it into thinking the message has yet to be read. This could be useful if you’re at work and cannot reply immediately or need some time to formulate a reply.
Some people are cool on Kik. They know real life is happening and that you cannot always reply to messages right away. More insecure people don’t always realize that and will want to know why you have not replied immediately to their message. It is those people that you can avoid with this trick.
To read the message without causing Kik to notify the sender, you need to be sneaky. Once you see the message arrive, you must not open it. Turn off 4G and/or WiFi first. Once your connection is off, open the message and read it when you’re ready. Leave your connection turned off or the app disabled until you are ready for the sender to be notified that you read the message.
You can use Airplane mode for this, too, if you prefer.
The upside is that the Kik app cannot contact the message server to acknowledge your reading of the message. This means the message server cannot inform the sender by changing their app to say ‘R’ even though you’ve most definitely read the message.
The downside is that you will not receive any further Kik messages until you go back online or turn off Airplane mode. If you need to use other apps, force close Kik before you turn your connection back on so it cannot notify the sender that you read their message. You will then be able to use other apps, but you still won’t be able to use Kik until you’re ready for the other party to know you read the message.
How to tell if you have been blocked on Kik
Another common question I see is how to tell if you have been blocked on Kik. Surprisingly, there isn’t a way to tell. There is no system notification, no warning message, or anything at all to tell you that the user you are trying to contact has blocked you.
The only way you can tell if you have been blocked is if you see the messages you send remain in ‘D’ and do not change to ‘R’ over a given period of time. This isn’t definitive, though, as I have just shown you how to avoid causing your Kik app to notify a sender that you have read their message. There is nothing to say the person isn’t on vacation, isn’t using Kik right now, or has changed their username and forgotten to tell you without deleting their old one. Or maybe you’ve just been ghosted. There’s no definitive way to tell.
How to block someone on Kik
If you find yourself on the other side of that equation, blocking someone on Kik is very easy. This is useful for annoying randoms who message you, the bots that pop up periodically, or the odd marketing message you receive. Or maybe you know a few people who are annoyingly uptight about how long it takes you to reply to a message after you’ve read it and you think they need to cool their heels for a little while.
It’s a very straightforward process. Follow these steps:
- Open the Kik app and select Settings in the top right.
- Select Chat Settings and Block List.
- Select the ‘+’ icon in the top right to add someone.
- A list of names will appear in the next screen. Select the one you want to block.
- Confirm at the next screen by selecting Yes.
As already mentioned, the person you blocked is not notified of your actions. All they will see is their messages remaining in ‘D’ status. This can avoid any social awkwardness while also avoiding that person, though it can also lead to a lot of confusion for anyone who doesn’t know they’ve been blocked and doesn’t remember doing anything wrong. Nothing is perfect.
Do you know of any other ways to read Kik messages without the sender knowing? Tell us about them below if you do!
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