"Read Receipts" turned on but messages only show "Delivered" despite having been read

My wife is experiencing an intermittent issue with iMessages on her iPhone 11: she has "Send Read Receipts" turned on, but messages that I and others send her still show as "Delivered" even after she's read them and replied. We've tried rebooting her phone and turning "Send Read Receipts" off and back on again, but the issue persists (intermittently). Has anyone else experienced this? How is this possible? What could be causing this?


Thanks!

Chris

iPhone 11 Pro Max

Posted on May 31, 2023 2:14 PM

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Question marked as Best answer
OMMBoy wrote:

but messages that I and others send her still show as "Delivered" even after she's read them and replied.


Are you sending SMS or iMessage?


There could be a few reasons why read receipts might work intermittently, even if you have enabled the "Send Read Receipts" feature. Here are a few possible explanations:


  1. The read receipts feature depends on both the sender and recipient settings. Even if you have enabled read receipts on your end, the recipient may have disabled them. In such cases, you won't receive read receipts for your messages.
  2. Read receipts may work differently across various messaging platforms SMS/MMS/iMessage.
  3. Intermittent network connectivity or server problems can sometimes prevent read receipts from being sent or received properly. If there are disruptions in the communication channel, the delivery of read receipts can be affected.
  4. In some cases, read receipts may not be delivered immediately. It could take some time before the system acknowledges the message as "read" and sends the corresponding receipt. Therefore, delays or lag in the system could cause intermittent behavior.



Posted on May 31, 2023 11:56 PM

3 replies
Question marked as Best answer

May 31, 2023 11:56 PM in response to OMMBoy

OMMBoy wrote:

but messages that I and others send her still show as "Delivered" even after she's read them and replied.


Are you sending SMS or iMessage?


There could be a few reasons why read receipts might work intermittently, even if you have enabled the "Send Read Receipts" feature. Here are a few possible explanations:


  1. The read receipts feature depends on both the sender and recipient settings. Even if you have enabled read receipts on your end, the recipient may have disabled them. In such cases, you won't receive read receipts for your messages.
  2. Read receipts may work differently across various messaging platforms SMS/MMS/iMessage.
  3. Intermittent network connectivity or server problems can sometimes prevent read receipts from being sent or received properly. If there are disruptions in the communication channel, the delivery of read receipts can be affected.
  4. In some cases, read receipts may not be delivered immediately. It could take some time before the system acknowledges the message as "read" and sends the corresponding receipt. Therefore, delays or lag in the system could cause intermittent behavior.



Jun 15, 2023 3:16 PM in response to SravanKrA

Hi! I am having the same issue and those responses are not applicable to me. My husband has read receipts on his phone, as do several of my friends. Nothing on either end has changed and suddenly I only see “delivered” even when my messages are opened and being read. My husband can be right next to me and open my messages and it never change from “delivered” on my end. This was never an issue before.


I do get iOS beta updates but I had not received one when the “read” disappeared from my end of the conversations. I have since had a new update and I have rebooted my phone but I am still unable to see “read”.


Do you have any other ideas?


Thanks!

"Read Receipts" turned on but messages only show "Delivered" despite having been read

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