Viber is just one of many messaging apps that people use on a daily basis. It is loved for being easy to use and allows you to communicate with people whenever you want. Just like its strongest rivals Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, it has a feature that tracks user movements.
In other words, your contacts can see when you’re online and you can see them too. If you exit the app, it will say you were online X minutes ago. While this feature is useful in some situations, it can also be quite annoying. If it bothers you, you are in the right place.
How to Hide Online Status
Are you constantly bothered by Viber messages even during your downtime? Whether you like it or not, many people will message you as soon as they see that you are active. If you’re connected to a Wi-Fi connection, they basically assume you’re always there.
When you hide your online status, you will appear offline and others will appear offline to you. This will allow you to respond to messages at your own pace without pressure. No one will think you are ignoring them and you will reach out to them whenever possible.
To go offline on mobile devices, follow these steps:
- Open the Viber app on your phone.
- Tap More in the lower right corner of your screen.
- Proceed to Settings.
- Click on Privacy.
- You will see “Share online status” at the top of your screen.
- Tap this and you will be invisible. Note that this setting can only be changed once in 24 hours.
The process is the same for both iOS and Android devices. However, when you use Viber on a computer, the option to hide your status is not available. It doesn’t matter if you’re on Windows, Mac or Linux.
Hide Viewed Status Too
While doing this, why not hide your seen status as well? Sometimes you don’t have time to reply to a long message, but the sender will know you’ve read it. People may think this is a rude gesture, especially if the message continues to be “seen” for a long time.
You can avoid unpleasant situations by tapping “Send as seen” status just below online status in Viber’s Privacy settings.
Problem solved?
You followed these steps and disabled your online and seen status. Does that mean you’re exempt from constant texting? Unfortunately, no.
There is one thing you should know about Viber: It never shuts down. Every time your mobile phone or computer connects to a network, your Viber session will remain open as long as you are logged in. It will run in the background even if you leave the app, which means people can still message and call you. Viber staff officially confirmed that this was intentional.
This makes it a free alternative to traditional calling and texting, but it has some serious drawbacks. For one, your battery will last less because Viber draws a lot of power even when running in the background. Second, you may receive messages or calls at unwanted times, such as in the middle of a meeting.
How Can You Make Sure Viber Is Offline?
Here are a few more methods to gain control over Viber:
- Turn it off manually – If you don’t like Viber draining your battery, you can always force it to stop. The easiest way to do this is to go to Apps and tap the Viber icon. Then select the application information; You will see the Uninstall and Force Stop options. It will warn you that Viber may behave erratically if you force it to stop, but that’s usually not the case.
- Hide notifications – Another good way to ensure you are not disturbed is to choose which Viber notifications to receive. Notifications can also be accessed from the Application Information window.
- Disable or Uninstall Viber – If none of the above work for you, you can always uninstall Viber using the same path as in option 1. To deactivate your account, open the app and go to options and tap on Account. At the bottom, you will see the Deactivate account option.
Off Grid
Now that you’ve got rid of the annoying notifications and messages that keep popping up, you can relax and browse the web without distractions. It’s a good idea to appear offline while at work and you need to focus on the task at hand.
