Telegram is a privacy-first messaging app. But regardless, it's trying to be far from dull and boring.
In an update, Telegram announced that is adding the ability for users to create their own notification tones, setting custom durations for muting chats or auto-deleting messages, as well as "supercharged bots" that can practically replace websites, improved forwarding that preserves replies, and a lot more.
First and foremost, is the ability to turn any sound into a notification tone.
This allows users to create custom alerts from any of their favorite music or even memes.
To do this, users can select a short audio file or voice message in chat to instantly add it to their list of notification sounds, which users can then assign it to any chats.
Telegram said that it initially supports audio files and voice messages that are under 300KB and less than five seconds long
Aside from custom notification tones, Telegram has also rolled out custom mute durations.
Previously, users could only mute notifications for one hour, eight hours, or two days, but with the update, users are given more options.
For example, users can pause notifications during a 30-minute drive,or even for a much longer two-month period if they're on an extended vacation.
To do this, Telegram has updated the option, in which each chat has a streamlined menu for modifying alerts.
After that, there is updated Auto-Delete menu in Profiles
Auto-Delete can be enabled in any chat to make a conversation more confidential or less cluttered. With the update, it takes fewer taps to enable the timer.
The update also includes more increments for the Auto-Delete timer.
Next, is allowing replies right inside forwarded messages.
To do this, users can swipe left on any message to reply it. Each reply will have a include a small preview so users can tap to instantly jump to the original message.
After that, and more significantly, Telegram has updated its bot support.
Since 2015, the messaging app has been allowing developers to create bots so users can do things, like convert files, shop online, and many many more.
This time, Telegram is "adding an entire new dimension, giving bot developers the tools to create infinitely flexible interfaces with JavaScript, one of the most popular programming languages in the world."
With this support, "Telegram bots can completely replace any website."
On top of that, Telegram bots can also handle smaller tasks like chat management by adding extra features, automating processes or helping moderators.
Users can quickly add bots to their group or channel directly from the bot's profile and instantly configure rights and permissions for the bot.
"Bots can only be added to channels as admins, while bots can be added to groups as both members or admins," Telegram said.
Next, Telegram has also made some OS-specific changes, including improved in-app translation on iOS that supports just as many languages as the Android version of Telegram.
The messaging app also allows users to change the size of the player window in picture-in-picture mode on Android, letting users use pinching gestures to resize the window or hit the “X” button to close the screen.
And lastly, there's the addition of new animated food emojis as well.