2020 is more than halfway done. Time flies, and many things have changed since the beginning of the year.
With the demand for communications increasing during the 'COVID-19' coronavirus pandemic, the popular cloud-based instant messaging Telegram has released a big mid-year update for its app. It has added a number of features designed to make the app even more sociable.
"Today’s update brings Profile Videos along with improved People Nearby features, unlimited file sharing with up to 2 Gigabytes per file, mini-thumbnails for your chat list and notifications, group stats, and much more," wrote Telegram in a blog post.
First up, is the 'Profile Videos'.
With the update, users can upload a video to their profile. As for the static profile picture in chats, users can choose any frame of the chosen video they want to use.
"Capture yourself in action, or wink and wave at people like you're in a magical picture from Harry Potter," wrote Telegram.
The feature comes equipped with customization offered for video uploads. With the media editor, users can enhance the quality of the video, or even decorate themselves with animated stickers.
The next is the 'Soften Skin' feature.
What it does, is using photos taken from the front-facing camera, and give it a soften skin option in the media editor.
"Speaking of the media editor, any photo or video you take with the front-facing camera now has a soften skin option in the media editor," Telegram explained.
Then there is the improved 'People Nearby' feature.
This way, when people are reaching the user via the People Nearby section, the user can see how far away they are. To make use of this feature, the user needs to first turn on the 'Make myself visible' on the Contacts > Find People Nearby settings.
"And when you start a chat with someone nearby, Telegram will suggest a greeting sticker to break the ice," said Telegram.
Coming next is mini-thumbnails.
"Ever wondered whether the incoming picture is just another meme or that selfie you've been waiting for? Get an idea of what media is in a message right away thanks to the new chat list thumbnails," wrote Telegram.
With the update, the thumbnails are made to appear in notifications and message search results.
Then there is the ability to filter out new chats from non-contacts.
This should come in handy for public figures or those who have to deal with a lot of chatting.
If they ever get too many messages from people who aren't yet their contacts, Telegram has added a switch in the Privacy & Security settings to automatically archive and mute new chats from people not in their contacts.
Users can access these archive chats anytime they want from the Archive folder and bring them back to the main chat list in a tap.
For owners of large groups with more than 500 members, Telegram has added detailed graphs about their activity and growth.
Calling it 'Group Stats', it also shows a list of top participating members based on the number of messages and the average message length they've shared.
Telegram has also reduced the minimum number of subscribers to get Channel Stats to 500 as well. Telegram is planning to roll out access to group stats for admins of all groups with 100 members or more in the near future.
Next is some Android extras.
On the popular mobile operating system, Telegram has redesigned its music player with new icons and an expandable track list.
Users can tap the button on the left to control looping, shuffling and to reverse the track order on their playlist.
Telegram has also redesigned the message input bar, making it capable of growing smoothly as users type a long message. Telegram has also tweaked the video editor to allow users to crop and rotate videos.
Telegram Desktop has added multiple accounts ability.
With the update, users using Telegram on desktop can stay signed in to 3 different accounts from different phone numbers, without having to sign out.
"Our mobile users have been enjoying this feature since 2017, and today it's coming to the multi-platform Telegram Desktop," wrote Telegram.
"As always, this doesn’t require an active connection to your phone – all Telegram’s apps are completely self-sufficient," added Telegram, trying to showcase its advantage over WhatsApp in this category.
Next, is more animated emojis.
And for last, Telegram has increased its transfer limits.
Since 2014, Telegram users have been sharing files up to 1,5GB each. With the update, users can send send unlimited numbers of media and files of any kind, up to 2GB each.
With the added features, Telegram should be able to improve its ability in providing a more enhanced user experience.
This is needed during the crisis where communications through the internet is increasing, and also to compete better against WhatsApp and other popular messaging apps.