Snapchat has a secret function that allows you to read a chat without alerting the sender if you only read half of the screen. Nonetheless, does it still function?
How to Half Swipe On Snapchat
The half-swipe feature of Snapchat allows users to view chats from friends without alerting them, but does this feature still function in 2022?
Snapchat, like many other social networking apps, includes a chat function for communicating with contacts. Distinct from other messaging apps, Snapchat messages automatically delete themselves after a set amount of time (usually between one and twenty-four hours).
While Snapchat’s messages disappear after a few seconds, the app’s chat feature is quite flexible. In addition to regular texting and media sharing, users can also play small games and use emoji and stickers.
You can also use one of Snapchat’s various filters while sending a private story to a friend. From the chat window, users can also initiate voice or video calls. Unfortunately, Snapchat does not allow users to hide a read receipt in chat, but the half swipe method is a solution.
The Snapchat half swipe has been around for a long time. It’s not an official function of the programme, but it allows a user to read a message without being seen by the sender and to avoid feeling obligated to reply.
Although the option to only swipe halfway disappeared in 2021, it looks to have made a comeback. Many Twitter users have said they can utilise the function, and initial testing in the app indicates that it works as advertised, without alerting the sender that the recipient has read the message.
SnapChat’s Secret to the Half-Swipe
Snapchat’s half-swipe feature is more intuitive than you might think. To start seeing a chat, navigate to the app’s Chat page. To dismiss a message, tap and hold the sender’s Bitmoji or name, and then, without releasing your finger, gently swipe to the right.
A glimpse of the chat’s contents should be visible in grey on the screen. Swipe all the way to the left, but don’t let go of the screen.
In this way, the sender will not be notified that their message has been read by either the ‘Delivered’ message appearing on the chat screen or the user’s Bitmoji icon appearing in the chat. Getting the motion just perfect takes some practise, but after a while it’s second nature.
After an update to the Snapchat iOS and Android apps in June 2021, the half swipe functionality was discontinued. Many users complained that the feature stopped functioning after the update, and that even a partial swipe on a chat would alert the sender.
The availability of this function appears to vary based on the Snapchat version being used, but for the time being, it is accessible to a sizable portion of the user base.
Either way, users shouldn’t put off installing the latest version of Snapchat because doing so would mean they lose out on important security patches and other improvements.
