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This update includes over 100 fixes and optimizations to the mobile and desktop apps – eliminating bugs, improving speed, and expanding minor features. iOS users with the latest iPhones and iPads get significantly smoother animations (120 FPS) throughout the app. Android users will notice better audio and video quality in voice and video messages, along with options to set alternative app icons, clear all recent stickers at once and translate user bios or chat descriptions. This is a handy feature for users who want to save disk space. To access it, go to the “Settings”, “Data and Storage”, and then tap “Storage Usage”. You will find four options: keep media on your device for three days, one week, one month, or forever. Telegram Premium users will now be able to add animated emoji status on the app. This custom status will replace the Premium Premium Badge in the chat list, in profile and in groups. Premium users will be able to choose from the seven standard statuses that change their color to match different Telegram themes – or choose from an infinite number of custom emoji.

In general, Telegram is as safe or safer than most other chat apps. It could be argued that WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption on all messaging is a better approach, but the company’s ties to Facebook/Meta may turn off privacy advocates. Launch the Telegram app on your device and navigate to Settings -> Data and Storage. However, Telegram only uses this encryption in calls and in its “secret chats” feature, not in regular chats. Those are only encrypted client to server. Meanwhile, WhatsApp, the supposedly less secure service, has used end-to-end encryption in all messages, calls, and video calls since 2016. Telegram lacks the Stories feature of some competing messaging apps which lets you post images or short videos without messaging a contact directly. Admittedly it isn’t an essential feature for most people.

Share Live Location Drafts This update is being rolled out gradually. If your app is not offering you to update, please wait – the new version will become available soon. For times when you may wish to concentrate on your work or just want to keep alerts from certain Telegram chats away to prevent them from becoming distractions, you can choose to mute chats. Yeah, this is exactly what you should use to reign in the annoying chats that keep bombarding you with unnecessary messaging. Depending on your needs, you can choose to mute individual chats for specific time durations like for 1 hour, 8 hours, 1 day, 7 days, or mute until a preferred date and time.

Telegram now allows you to add people who are near you. If the person on the other side has made his/her profile visible, you can see his/her name in the search. Just tap on the name to exchange contact info. Another thing to keep in mind is that selling your data isn’t at the core of Telegram’s business model. According to Telegram’s FAQ page, the company is funded by its founder and CEO Pavel Durov, not through advertising or data collection and sharing.