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iMessage is why many Apple users stay hooked on the Apple ecosystem, among other things. The app provides a rich messaging experience with a lot of privacy options.
While the privacy level isn’t as high as some other apps, say Snapchat, for example, there are still read receipts and several other tools at a user’s disposal to know when their messages have been seen or not.
In this article, we’re talking about one such feature that works with voice messages, more specifically, what the ‘kept’ label means when you send someone a voice message on iMessage.
Also read: Do iMessages deliver if the phone is dead?
What does ‘kept’ mean under a voice note in iMessage?
By default, iMessage self-destructs any voice messages you send or receive two minutes after the intended recipient has listened to them. Of course, this behaviour can be altered, letting the recipient keep the audio message in the iMessage chat history just like any other message.
This is where the ‘kept’ label comes in handy. When you send a voice message to someone, and they decide to keep in it their iMessage history, you’ll see a ‘kept’ indicator under the message.
iMessage gives users two options when it comes to dealing with voice messages. They can either choose to keep all voice messages in the chat history by default or simply let the messages expire after two minutes. However, the users do get a ‘keep’ option every time they receive a voice message.
Also, keep in mind that regardless of what setting you choose, it only applies on your end of the conversation. If you’ve decided to keep a message, it doesn’t mean that it’ll automatically be saved for the other person. Their settings work independently of what you choose.
There’s also no way of telling whether or not the recipient decided to keep your message by tapping the ‘keep’ option or if that’s their default setting. You can deduce this to some degree by noting the ‘kept’ tag, though. If only some of the messages you’re sending are saved, the recipient keeps them on purpose. However, if all voice messages are kept, it’s definitely their default setting.
Also read: Why does it say ‘Join’ on iMessage?
