So, here we go with the question of the day: does WhatsApp show online when in the background, and does it indicate that I’m offline if I minimize the app and have it running in the background?
In a mobile phone, when an app runs in the background, it simply means that the app is still open and active.
Now the question is what about whatsapp?
So I ran a test to see if I would actually be seen online or offline (last seen) if I minimized the app on my mobile phone.
And I have my test results.
So let’s jump in to the result.
Does whatsapp show online when in background?
The straight answer is no. Whatsapp does not show online if the app is minimized and running in the background.
This is because immediately you minimize the WhatsApp application on your mobile phone, it will display “last seen” on your status.
This means that WhatsApp sees that you have closed the app and are not active.
The last seen indicator shows that you’re offline, not online. I conducted a test to see if my status would immediately change to online when I minimized the app on my mobile phone.
But that didn’t happen.
Here’s what I did
So I have two mobile phones with a WhatsApp account, plus mine, making it three phones with WhatsApp accounts.
I opened my WhatsApp and the other two phones as well and saw my status online.
I immediately minimized my WhatsApp and let it run in the background.
I checked my WhatsApp status using the other two phones, and what it showed as my status was “last seen.” It didn’t show “online” but rather the time I was last seen on WhatsApp.
I did this a good four times to be very sure of what I was seeing, and the same thing happened each time. Immediately, I minimized the app on my phone and checked my status using the other two phones. I saw “last seen” on my status.
This is to inform you that WhatsApp will show the last seen time on your status immediately when you minimize the app on your mobile phone.
Your WhatsApp contacts will see that you’re not active at that very moment, and I hope this answers the question of whether WhatsApp shows online status when in the
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So the next question we have is,
When does whatsapp show online?
WhatsApp will show a user as online once the application is opened and there is an active internet connection.
I will repeat this as long as the phone has an active internet connection and the WhatsApp application is open, it will show the user as online.
I know the reason why i stated an active internet connection because it is possible to open the WhatsApp application without an active internet connection.
One can also send a message without having an active internet connection, though the message won’t be sent or delivered until there’s an active internet service on the user’s mobile phone.
As soon as the user opens WhatsApp on their phone, it will display an “online” status on their WhatsApp profile.
It is not necessary for someone to chat in order to be seen as online on WhatsApp. Simply opening the app, which is similar to logging into your account, will display your status as online.
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A user can be checking it’s whatsapp friend’s profile updates, updating it’s profile, chatting or reading messages or chats or leaving the app idle will all display the user as online.
As soon as the user minimizes the app, it will display “last seen” on the user’s status.
WhatsApp on iphone
There’s no difference between whatsapp on Android and whatsapp on iPhone, so asking does whatsapp show online when in background on iPhone, kindly know thatbthe answer is no.
Same goes to android.
WhatsApp does not show online status in the background on an iPhone. As soon as the app is minimized on the iPhone, it displays the user’s last seen status on their WhatsApp profile.
This is how whatsapp works.
Does WhatsApp Web show online when in background
WhatsApp Web does not show you as online when the app is in the background. Even when you have opened the app and it is not in the background, WhatsApp Web will show you as last seen unless you are actively chatting.
Generally, as long as you are in the background or WhatsApp is running in the background, WhatsApp will consider the user as offline and, in turn, display the user as offline or last seen.
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For WhatsApp to show you as online, you must be active, and the app should not be minimized or allowed to run in the background, just like the question we have here: Does WhatsApp show you as online when in the background?
In the case of using a laptop
Now the question is does whatsapp show online when using a laptop? The answers is Yes. Whatsapp does show online when on laptop though the user must be active else it display last seen on the user’s status.
I opened my whatsapp account using the whatsapp web on my laptop, used another phone with a whatsapp account to chat my account and it displayed online on my status.
After a few seconds of reading the chat, my WhatsApp status displayed “last seen,” indicating that I was offline.
So what I’m trying to say is that if you’re chatting on WhatsApp Web, it will show your status as online. But if you leave it idle or check your friends’ updates, etc., it will display your status as offline or “last seen.”
This is exactly what I have noticed on my WhatsApp Web, and it happens all the time.
Can you be online on WhatsApp without being online?
Yes of course, you can be online on WhatsApp and it will not show online on your whatsapp status, and lots of whatsapp user’s does this a lot.
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For me I don’t fancy this though a vast number of whatsapp users love this so much. On the other hand your friends might start to ask who are you hiding from, why are you hiding, etc.
Now the question is;
How to not show online on whatsapp?
To do this, you will open your whatsapp application on your mobile phone and tap on the hamburger menu located at the right corner of your screen.
Select settings by tapping on it, and tap on account. This is followed by tapping on privacy and right there you will seen last seen.
Tap on last seen and change it from everybody to nobody.
As you changed the last seen to nobody, no one will see your whatsapp status as online. If you’re chatting or using your whatsapp, you will be in ghost mode cause it will not show you as online.
This is how not to show your online status on WhatsApp. As you can see, it is easy to set up. If you want to be seen as online on your WhatsApp status, you will have to use the same method, but this time, you will have to select Everyone or My Contacts, if you wish to.
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I tried to make my explanation easier and simpler to understand, and I do hope you understood everything I explained in this post.
Once again, if you have your Whatsapp application running in the background, rest assured that it will not show your status as online; rather, it will show you as last seen, as it deems you to be inactive or offline.
With this, I conclude the post on today’s question of the day, does whatsapp show online when in background.
