"This month we've added more than 15 new features, including recommended channels, a way to view your own profile and display your channel and birthday on your page, improved moderation tools for group admins – and much more", Telegram brags. Also, there's a way to watch stories anonymously.
So, let's take a closer look at those new features, shall we?
1. Recommended Channels
The search interface has a new 'Channels' tab that shows the channels you follow. The tab also has a list of recommended channels with similar topics, where you can discover new content creators.
When viewing posts from a channel, you can pull up to jump to the next unread channel in your list. After hopping through all your channels, you can keep scrolling to browse recommended channels.
Channel recommendations are based only on the general topic of channels you already subscribe to. So any predominance of particular types of vegetables or fruit is entirely on you.
2. My Profile
Your Settings now have a 'My Profile' section that allows you to view your profile as it appears to other users – and quickly edit or change any information.
You can now pin up to 3 stories to the top of your profile page – to showcase your achievements or make sure nobody misses that cat in a suit you met in an elevator.
"We've also added little icons that show the privacy settings of your posted stories, so you can quickly see if they need adjustments."
3. Birthdays
Anyone can choose to add their birthday to their profile – letting all their contacts know when to bring gifts. On your birthday, anyone who visits your profile will be greeted with animated confetti and plenty of balloons.
When it's someone else's birthday, a banner appears in your chat list – so you won't forget to congratulate them. Don't worry if you forgot their gift, you can tap the banner to quickly send a subscription to Telegram Premium.
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By default, your date of birth is only visible to your contacts. Like other information on your profile, birthdays have granular privacy settings which you can control via Settings > Privacy and Security > Date of Birth.
4. Channels on Your Profile
If you own a channel, you can now add it to your profile page. This places a detailed preview of the latest post above your bio – sending visitors to your personal project, online portfolio or company blog in one tap.
5. Collectibles on Your Profile
Owners of collectible usernames can link them to their Telegram account or channels – listing the extra names on the profile page.
Tapping a collectible username or anonymous number on someone's profile now pulls up extra info about the collectible – like when it was acquired and for how much.
Collectibles can be bought and sold on the Fragment platform, which uses the TON blockchain.
6. Share Location Indefinitely
When meeting up with friends or taking a trip, you can share your live location with individual users or entire group chats. This lets others follow your journey – or even set an alert for when you arrive.
Now you can add more time to an existing shared location. And if you want friends and family to keep track of your movements for extended periods, there is a new option to share your location with them indefinitely, until you turn it off.
To start sharing your location, open the attachment menu in a private chat or a group and select Location > Share My Live Location for….
7. Reaction Notification Settings
We've added new settings that let you control notifications for reactions to your messages.
This update also introduces notifications about reactions to your stories, so you will never miss a heart again. (Or a flame. Or a thumbs up. Or a… pigeon? Whatever that means.)
The new settings are available in Settings > Notifications and Sounds > Reactions.
8. Profile Pictures in Forwarded Messages
Forwarded messages now show the profile picture of the user from whom they were forwarded. This makes them more recognizable in the chat – and makes it easier to read forwarded conversations with multiple authors.
If you limit who can link back to your account when forwarding, your profile picture will not appear on messages forwarded from you.
Tip: On Telegram, you can set a separate public photo that will be displayed to users you don't know.
9. Premium: Animated Emoji in Polls
Premium users can now include animated and custom emoji in polls. At long last, democracy can help decide whether animated ducks are better than static cats.
10. Mass Moderation for Groups
Group admins can now select several messages and perform multiple moderation actions at the same time – in a new menu with individual toggles for each user and action to maximize efficiency.
The menu also has options to restrict user permissions instead of banning them from the community right away.
11. Improved Recent Actions
The Recent Actions section lets group admins view notable events that took place in the chat in the past 48 hours, like deleted or edited messages and admin activity.
With this update, recent actions are now more compact, with similar actions by the same admin grouped together. Admins can also see replies and to which topics recent action messages belong.
We also fixed text highlighting when you search recent actions – now it works just as well as when you search in regular Telegram chats.
12. Reaction Management for Channels
Channel admins now have an extra way to manage reactions – selecting a maximum number of reaction types each post can have to keep things tidy.
This allows channels to frequently change their available reactions (like adding something relevant for a holiday), without a bunch of Easter bunnies popping up on past posts.
13. Premium: Unhide Ads
By default, subscribing to Telegram Premium hides ads in channels. If you wish to still see them – either to check your own ads or help channels earn rewards, there is a new toggle to show sponsored messages in Settings > Telegram Business.
14. Premium: Open Stories Anonymously
While viewing stories, Premium users can activate Stealth Mode in the story menu to hide their recent views and continue hiding views for the next 25 minutes.
Now you can also activate Stealth Mode from the chat list – simply press and hold a story in your feed and select 'View Anonymously'. This opens the story without adding you to the list of viewers even for a second, and also turns on Stealth Mode.
15. Swipe for Next Topic
When browsing groups that have topics enabled, you can pull up at the bottom of the chat to go to the next unread topic.
16. Instant View on Telegram Desktop
Telegram's cross-platform Desktop app now supports Instant View for websites – opening the page and all its media directly in your app with zero load times.
If you ever find errors on an Instant View page, scroll to the bottom and tap 'Wrong Layout?' to send us feedback.
17. Rewards for Creators
A new reward system has launched for channel owners – sharing 50% of the revenue from ads shown in their channels. Withdrawals on Fragment are already available for eligible channels – with no fees.
Users can promote their channel or bot by creating sponsored messages on the Telegram Ad Platform – powered by the TON blockchain.
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Sebastian, a veteran of a tech writer with over 15 years of experience in media and marketing, blends his lifelong fascination with writing and technology to provide valuable insights into the realm of mobile devices. Embracing the evolution from PCs to smartphones, he harbors a special appreciation for the Google Pixel line due to their superior camera capabilities. Known for his engaging storytelling style, sprinkled with rich literary and film references, Sebastian critically explores the impact of technology on society, while also perpetually seeking out the next great tech deal, making him a distinct and relatable voice in the tech world.
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