When it comes to text messages or even online shopping, you will come across this term sent and delivered and one might think that the two terms are the same but that isn’t the case as the are very much different.
So in this article I will explain sent vs delivered in two different ways and which is their meaning in text messages and shipping.
First, let’s see the difference between sent and delivered
When it says sent, that simply means something has been forwarded to a recipient, and when it says delivered then it means the recipient has received the sent item.
In other words, sent means to forward something while delivered means the person whom the item was sent to has received it. Once the person received the item or package, it will be seen as delivered.
So I will go ahead to explain sent vs delivered in different ways it is mostly used.
Sent vs delivered in text messages
The difference between sent vs delivered in text messages is that when a text message says sent it means that is has been sent to the recipient, but not yet received by the recipient. When a text message says delivered, then it means the recipient has received the sent message on it’s mobile phone.
Once a text message says delivered, then it simply means everything is successful as the recipient has received the sent text message.
However, if a text message never says delivered then it means the text message isn’t complete yet. If the sent text message never say delivered after a long time and on different occasions, then there’s a reason why this is happening.
And the reasons are as follows.
1. The sender is blocked
This is one of the reasons why sent text messages never get delivered and that is because the recipient blocked the sender on it’s cellphone. Once you have been blocked by the recipient, there’s no way a sent message will be delivered but rather it will fail.
2. The recipient number isn’t available
Most time when a text message never say delivered, it is simply because the recipient number is not available. There are several reasons why a recipient number may not be available and the are;
The recipient phone is offline: When w phone is offline, there won’t be any available cellular network service and this will prevent sms text message from being delivered to the recipient.
The recipient phone is switched off: When a mobile phone is switched off along with the sim card in it, don’t expect a text message to get delivered on the cell phone because there won’t be an available network service.
Once the phone is switched on and there’s available network service, text messages will be delivered to the cellphone.
The recipient phone number is disconnected: In some cellular network service, once a phone number or a phone is disconnected over non payment of phone bill, text messages and calls won’t go through or get delivered to the recipient.
However, once the phone is connected back the text will be delivered to the recipient though it depends on the number of days the phone was disconnected.
So these are the reasons why sent text messages never says delivered and which means the recipient has successfully received the sent text message on it’s cell phone.
So talking about the difference between sent vs delivered text message, sent means the text message has been forwarded to the recipient while delivered means the recipient has received the sent text message on it’s mobile phone.
Sent vs delivered in shipping
Shipping terms or tracking your item is where you will see sent and delivered, sometimes you will see people getting confused on the meaning of the two terms.
The difference between sent vs delivered in shipping is the fact that sent means your item has been sent out to your destination or the recipient destination. When it says delivered them it means the item has been delivered to the recipient and which means the recipient has received the item.
This is the final stage of delivery including when it involves sms text message.
By now you have seen and know the difference between sent and delivered, once again sent means to forward or send something, while delivered means the recipient has received the sent item or text message.
Sent vs delivered WhatsApp
On whatsapp, sent vs delivered is shown by icons and not letters. If a sent message is sent, it will indicate one check ☑ mark, and if it gets delivered to the recipient it will show two check marks just like on the picture below.
Once the recipient opens the whatsapp message, the check marks will turn to green.
For whatsapp messages not saying delivered, then there are reasons for that and the most important is the sender being blocked by the recipient on whatsapp.
This is quite common on whatsapp and another reason why whatsapp messages not getting delivered is when the recipient phone has not internet connection.
As whatsapp is an instant messaging app and service, it requires internet connection to send and receive whatsapp messages. So when there’s no internet connection available in a cellphone whatsapp messages will never get delivered.
If whatsapp is not available maybe disabled or force stop on a cell phone, then don’t expect whatsapp messages to get delivered because once it is disabled or force stopped, whatsapp messenger will no longer run in the background and this will in turn prevent whatsapp messages from going through.
But the truth is that when a whatsapp messages fails to get delivered especially on different occasion, then it is likely the sender has been blocked by the recipient.
Sent vs delivered on Facebook Messenger
On Facebook messenger, sent means the message has be forwarded to the recipient and once the recipient received the message it will say delivered.
Related Questions
Does Sent mean blocked?
Sent doesn’t entirely mean blocked but rather the message has been forwarded to the recipient, but if it fails to say delivered after several hours and on multiple occasions, it is likely the recipient has blocked your number.
Do ignored messages show as delivered?
Ignored text messages doesn’t show as delivered but rather on instant messaging apps, the delivered message won’t be opened or read by the recipient. Once a text message shows delivered it simply means the recipient has received the sent text message on it’s cell phone.
Does sent as text message mean delivered Iphone?
On iphone, sent as text message doesn’t mean delivered but rather the text message was sent as sms which uses the cellular network service and not internet like the iMessage.
If iMessage is not available on iphone the message will be sent as sms text message. Also if you are trying to send a message to an android user using the iMessage, it won’t go through because iMessage isn’t available for android users.
So in this type of situation the message will be sent as sms text message which involves the cellular network service and sim card.
Does sent but not delivered mean blocked?
Most times it may mean blocked especially if the message fails to get delivered on multiple occasions. However, sent but not delivered may occur if the recipient phone is switched off or offline.
Poor network connection might also cause a message not get delivered to the recipient.
So veae in mind that when a text message fails to get delivered to the recipient, it doesn’t entirely mean blocked but there are other causes like phone switched off or offline, no network service or internet, etc.
Before I round it, the difference between sent vs delivered is that sent means message or item has been forwarded to the recipient, while delivered means the message or item has been received by the recipient.
