Online status
The online status shows whether someone is active right now – usually as a green dot or as “last online”. How visible you are should be up to you.
What is the online status?
The online status tells others that you are using an app or website right now. Usually a green dot appears on the profile picture, sometimes with “last online … ago” next to it. Technically, the app or browser sends the service a sign of life at short intervals; if the last sign is fresh enough, the person counts as online.
Benefits and drawbacks
In a chat, the dot helps you judge whether a quick reply is likely. It can also create pressure – someone who is online “has to” reply – and it reveals something about your daily rhythm and habits. How much of that others see is therefore a real privacy decision.
What to keep in mind
Check whether you can hide the status and separately decide who may see “last online”. Note that the online status says nothing about read receipts – those are usually a setting of their own. And: if the dot is missing for a contact, that does not mean the person is offline – they may have hidden their status.
On Friendstime
On Friendstime a person counts as online if they sent a sign of life within the last 60 seconds; the Android app does so about every 30 seconds, less often in power-saving mode. In the browser you switch off “Show me as online” under “Privacy”: others then see neither the green dot nor “last active”. There you also decide who may see “Last online” – Everyone, Friends only or Nobody. In the app there is the switch “Hide online status” as well as selection fields for “Online status” and “Last online” (Public, Friends only, Only me). Between blocked people the status is not shown. Friendstime shows “last active” only if the online status is visible as well. The dot appears, for example, under “Online contacts” on the start page, in the chat list and in the member lists of groups.
Frequently asked questions
How do I switch off my online status?
In the browser, switch off “Show me as online” in the settings under “Privacy”; in the app, switch on “Hide online status”. Others then see neither the green dot nor “last active”.
Why do I see no dot for some friends?
Either the person is not online right now, or they have hidden their status or set it so that only certain people see it. The status is not shown in the case of a block either.
Is hiding the dot enough so that nobody learns when I was last active?
Yes: Friendstime shows “last active” only if the online status is visible. In addition, “Last online” can be limited to friends or nobody.
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