Are you an Android user, and are wondering if the other person can see you typing?
Or, perhaps you’re using an iPhone, and you want to know whether the other person has even started replying to your message yet.
In either case, this can lead you to wonder – can iPhones see when Android phones are typing? If so, how? If not, why not?
In this article, we’ll be answering all of these questions and more!
Can iPhone Users See When Android Users Are Typing?
Currently, the answer for this is no. iPhones can only see when other iPhones are typing, and that is only when both users have iMessage enabled on their phones.
The reason for this actually quite simple.
iMessage – and Google Messages sent to other Android phones, don’t actually use the traditional SMS texting that has been around for decades.
Instead, these messages are actually sent over the internet, rather than through your carrier.
Features like being able to see when someone is typing are not supported by traditional SMS – it simply wasn’t a thing when SMS texting started being used.
Because iPhones only support these features with iMessage – which Android doesn’t use, it is impossible to know when an Android user is typing.
Other Messaging Apps May Be Different, However
Note that the above information only applies when sending messages through the default messaging app on your phone.
If you are using different services to send texts – such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram or Discord for example, then you may be able to see when someone is typing, regardless of the phone they use.
This is because services like these operate through the internet, rather than through your cellular provider’s network.
Additionally, because the service is the same regardless of what phone you’re using, these services are able to offer extra features that are available to all users.
So, through Facebook Messenger for example, you can see when somebody is typing even if one person is using an iPhone, and another is using an iPad.
The device doesn’t matter at all!
What About Vice-Versa? Can Androids See When iPhones Are Typing?
Now that we’ve talked about whether or not iPhone users can see when Android users are typing, let’s look at it from the other side.
Is the opposite also true? Can Android users see when iPhone users are typing?
At this time, the answer is no.
Again, iMessage is a closed system, that is restricted to Apple products only. Although it would be technically possible for Apple to share when one of their users is typing a message, they choose not to.
So, there is no way for either side to know when the other person is typing, unfortunately.
If this feature is critical to you, I recommend both people use one of the alternative applications listed above, that support this feature.
Does This Mean Read Receipts Won’t Work Either?
Now that we know that you can’t see the other person typing due to the way that the messaging system is set up, you may be wondering – how does this affect other features? This mean that read receipts aren’t supported either?
Unfortunately, you would be right to assume that. Although it is technically possible now that Google uses the newer RCS messaging, read receipts are not currently supported from Android to iPhone, or vice versa.
So, there will be no way to know when someone else has read your message unless you are both using iPhones, or you’re both using Androids.
Alternatively, read receipts are supported on many alternative messaging apps, that operate across the internet.
However, you will both need to be using the same app. Texting services like TextNow or Textfree do not support read receipts to regular numbers either.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, there is no way for iPhone users to see when an Android phone is typing, or vice versa.
This is because when an Android user texts an iPhone user, it is sent via SMS, which does not support these features. While this may be possible at some point in the future, it would require Google and Apple to work together, which doesn’t seem likely at this point in time.
I hope that you’ve found this article helpful, and that it’s answered your questions.
If you have any other questions about iPhone or Android, ask them below and I’ll be happy to help.
Wishing you the best,
– James McAllister