WhatsApp immediacy is both a blessing and a curse at times.

While it’s great to be able to message friends and get a response straight away, there are moments when you don’t want to chat.

But what if they have something important to say and you want to read without replying?

The blue double ticks give away if you’ve read a message and not responded, which may not go down well.

While you can switch them off , there are some clever tricks to secretly read messages without alerting people.

Notification previews

Whether you’re on iPhone or an Android device, notification previews are handy for not giving away that you’ve read the message.

You may not get to see all the message but it can certainly give you a flavour of what’s been spoken about – and most importantly, whether it needs a response urgently.

So next time you get a WhatsApp message come through, slide down to reveal your notifications and get a sneaky glimpse.

Airplane mode

Airplane mode is a really clever way to see WhatsApp messages.

With it switched on, your phone can’t send or receive any data.

This means, you can sneakily go into WhatsApp, have a look at messages, then leave the app like you were never there.

And when you switch airplane mode off once you’ve finished, WhatsApp – and most importantly, friends and family – had no idea you saw the messages.