Much to the ire of many local Whatsapp users, today saw the rollout of the dreaded read receipt.

Normally, a grey check means the message has been sent, two grey checks means that is has reached the recipients phone and you are left wondering if and when they read it.

This has been the upside of Whatsapp since the shift from Blackberry Messenger as it adds a layer of secrecy towards those persons you may be ducking. Such as: a side piece, jilted lover (wait, are they one and the same at some point), a person begging for a complimentary or just that annoying friend.

But as of this morning, two mysterious blue check marks have been appearing in our Whatsapp conversations. After a quick google search and some in-office testing we discovered what it was all about. Cue PUT-IN-PLACE. The two blue checks simply means that messages have been read. Think the dreaded “D” and “R” of Blackberry Messenger. So basically that hiding your online status and “last seen at” time stamp has been rendered somewhat irrelevant.

Here’s an excerpt from Whatsapp’s FAQ page:

This read receipt issue used to be a point of constant consternation among couples in the past. “I’ve been messaging you all day and yuh eh take me on. You don’t love me … I can tell.” Remember those conversations? It seems with this little update the good folks at Whatsapp have cast us back into the dark ages of 2009. For iOS users you can switch on your banner notifications for Whatsapp and the messages will appear on your home screen before even unlocking your phone. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.

Now, at this point, there has been no official word from Whatsapp or Facebook, its parent company. So we are left to believe it is still in the testing stage. It’s clear that an update is on the horizon and all will probably be revealed at that time.

Good luck and God’s speed with this one.

How do you feel about this new feature? Tell us in the comments.