Message requests inbox
See all messages from community members, that aren't in your contact list, in one place: the message requests inbox.
You'll also find invites to groups and communities from unknown contacts in your inbox.
IMPORTANT
This feature may not be available in your country.
What are message requests?
Message requests are:
- Messages that you received from members of a mutual community, who aren’t saved in your contact list (unknown contacts), and you don’t already have an open chat with
- Group invites from people who aren’t saved in your contact list
- Community invites from people who aren’t saved in your contact list
Notes
Community members are able to send you a message directly, without seeing your phone number.
Approve, delete, or block and report a message
When you receive a message from an unknown contact, you will have the option to approve, delete, or block and report the message.
Approve: you will be able to reply to the message. The chat will be moved out of the message request inbox and into the regular chat list.
You do not have to add the sender of the message to your contact list in order to reply to them.
Delete this chat: the message will be deleted from your inbox. Unless blocked, the sender will be able to continue messaging you.
Block and report*: the message will be deleted from your inbox, and the sender will be blocked from messaging you again. You will also have the opportunity to report the message as spam or harassment.
*Only available on mobile.
Notes
The sender will not see your online status or whether the message has been read unless you accept the message.
Group and communities invites
People who aren't in your contact list can add you to a group and invite you to communities. These requests will also be found in the message requests inbox.
When you are added to a new group or invited to a community, you will see the name or phone number of the person that added you and the name of the group/community.
If you accept the invitation, you will be able to send messages within the chat.
If you delete the message, you will exit out of the group/community.
Notes
If your privacy is set to block group invites from unknown contacts, you won't see any group invites in the message requests inbox.
Where is the message requests inbox?
You can find the message requests inbox in your regular chat list. By opening the inbox, you will be able to see messages and invites from unknown contacts.
The inbox will move down the chat list as you receive other messages unless you pin it to the top of the list. If you get a message from an unknown contact, the inbox will come back to the top.
The message requests inbox will automatically be pinned to the top on desktop.
Notes
You can also find the inbox by searching for message requests in the chats screen search bar.
How to delete all message requests
Too many message requests in your inbox? You can delete them all at the same time:
- Open Rakuten Viber on your phone
- In the chats screen, long tap (Android) or swipe left (iOS) the message requests inbox
- Tap on Delete
You can also delete all messages by tapping on the garbage can when you open the message requests inbox.
How to change message requests settings
New message requests from unknown contacts will automatically go to your message requests inbox unless you deactivate it.
To change your settings:
- Open Rakuten Viber on your phone
- Tap on More
- Tap on Settings
- Tap on Privacy
- Find Message requests
You will have the option to switch the message requests inbox to active or inactive:
- Active: purple tick (Android)/toggle right (iOS) - all your message requests will be collected in a single inbox, which will appear in the chat list.
- Inactive: no tick (Android)/toggle left (iOS) - messages from unknown contacts will appear individually in the chat list, like any other chat. The option to accept, delete, or block and report the message, will not be available.