Telegram Update | Story Reposts, Free Voice-to-Text, New Emoji Reactions in Channels, and More
Telegram is upgrading the Stories experience, making Premium voice-to-text free, and adding new Emoji reactions in channels.
Telegram keeps delighting its users with new functionalities. Following the recent October update, Telegram has been actively introducing new features, establishing itself as an innovative and dynamic messaging platform. While many updates are targeted towards Premium users and channel admins, there are also features that are available to absolutely everyone.
Similar Channels
Now, discovering new channels similar to the ones you just subscribed to is easier than ever.
- New suggestions will automatically pop up as soon as you subscribe to a channel, showing channels with similar content.
- You can also view this list by accessing the new 'Similar Channels' tab in the channel profile.
Repost and Video Messages in Stories
Users are now able not only to share stories from friends and channels but also to add their personal touch by writing captions, inserting audio, or recording video messages. They can be placed anywhere in your stories, and you can edit videos as needed, later adjusting the content access for specific users.
- To record a video message, press and hold the recording button in the Stories window.
- After recording, you can cut the video if you like, and add a caption.
- Adjust the volume by holding the video track at the bottom of the screen.
For privacy matters, stories with limited access cannot be reposted.
Premium Profile Customization
For Premium users, the ability to choose a unique color palette with a logo for their name, messages, and profile header is now available. Make the profile stand out with an easy UI customization.
Wallpapers for Both Sides
Set individual wallpapers for all or specific chats. In addition to standard themes, you can now add photos from your gallery.
- With Premium, you can decide, whether you want to set these wallpapers for both you and your chat partner.
Voice-to-Text for All Users
Each and every one now have access to voice-to-text transcriptions. After the update, translation from audio to text is available to all users. However, this feature is currently limited to transcribing (!) 2 messages per week.
- Press the → A button in the chat to enable Voice-to-Text.
Story Stats for Channels
More analytics for channel admins: views, shares, and likes for stories are visually represented on a graph, making it easy to track engagement.
New Emoji Reactions in Channels
Administrators can customize the emojis used for reactions on the channel. Telegram allows adding one non-standard reaction for each channel level.
- If available, subscribers can leave reactions outside the standard emoji set. No more boring thumbs up. Cool, right?
Other Updates:
Code Highlighting in Messages: Telegram recognizes programming language in messages and highlights code syntax. There's also a 'Copy' button for easy sharing.
Improved Viewing of Theme Groups: The app now remembers the display mode when viewing theme groups, either as a unified chat or separate themes.
'Thanos Snap' Effect: Auto-deleted messages on iOS will now disappear with a cool 'pixel disintegration' animation.
Telegram continues to expand its possibilities, showcasing its dynamic growth and attentive response to user feedback. This latest update aims to grant users greater freedom by allowing even more customization of profile and chat UI, enabling a voice-to-text feature for all, and enhancing interaction within channels with new reactions.