Can synchronisation create different message states on different devices?¶

Yes. Devices linked to one account can legitimately show different conversation states because they received, stored and applied service events at different times.

State changes propagate over time¶

Synchronisation copies messages and later changes between the service and its endpoints. An offline device may retain original wording, an unread marker or a locally stored attachment. On reconnecting, it may receive an edit, deletion, expiry instruction, reaction or newer status.

An endpoint can therefore preserve an earlier state that has disappeared elsewhere. Notifications and backups may add further snapshots. Different local clocks and time-zone displays can make the order appear more confusing without changing the underlying event sequence.

Preserve disagreement before resolving it¶

Record each device's connectivity, displayed time and time-zone settings, application version, account session and visible conversation before avoidable reconnection. Forcing synchronisation to make screens agree may destroy the very difference needed to reconstruct what happened.

Compare stable message identifiers, sequence, edit markers, deletion notices, attachment state and provider or account events. Distinguish the time of the original message from the time a later state reached each endpoint.

A difference is not automatically evidence of manipulation. Explain the observed states and the supported synchronisation sequence, leaving unresolved causes explicit.