The two blue ticks under a WhatsApp message let you know when someone read your message. Why can't email have that, too? It'd be nice to know when someone has opened and read your emails, wouldn't it? Not knowing can contribute a small amount to email stress.

Fortunately, there is a solution: MailTrack for Gmail.

MailTrack for Gmail has found legions of users on the Chrome Web Store. Now, it is available in Opera as well. Let's revisit this extension and see how it helps us find out when our emails get opened in real-time.

Your Email Has Been Read

MailTrack is a full-fledged solution for tracking emails. There is a free flavor which offers unlimited tracking but adds a signature to your emails. That is a giveaway, but if you don't care to be stealthy about it, then it is sufficient.

In all fairness, I think it's better to let the recipient know that there is a tracker in the email that works like a read receipt. Try the free version before you jump on the premium ones. The premium version, which offers tracking reports daily, is a powerful tool for digital marketers and customer support professionals.

MailTrack in Opera works with Gmail and Google Apps for Work. 

MailTrack does not add anything more than the visual indication with the double-check marks. Toggle the tracking button in the compose window if you want a specific email to be tracked. Just send an email and then go to your sent mail folder to see if the check marks next to the message turn green to show that it has been opened.

Real-time notifications of the read emails will help you send immediate follow-up messages. This little thing could be the difference in productivity which relies solely on an email exchange.

Like all extensions, you have to give it permission to read, send, delete, and manage your email. Yes, you may not want to give access to a third-party app to your Gmail account. But you can use MailTrack for a targeted task, like a special Gmail account you use to send resumes. The "read status" can help you know if you emailed resumes have been read by the HR guy on the other end.

One Little Caveat: It Won't Always Work

Remember that MailTrack uses link tracking via HTML emails, so the read check will not work with text emails. But it's safe to assume that most of us read HTML emails on the desktop and mobile devices these days.

Have you tried MailTrack in Opera? Do you find email tracking useful as a sender and an annoyance as a recipient?