# Channels .

# Channels . Telegram

To adjust the theme, go to Settings > Chat Settings on Android, or Settings > Appearance on iOS. Here you can change the text size, bubble colors, night mode settings, and similar options. Choose Chat Background to set a new wallpaper for your groups. Under the App Icon section, you should see a handful of pre-defined app icons such as Aqua, Sunset, Mono Black, Classic, Classic Black, Filled, and Filled Black. Now, choose a suitable app icon and you are all set! Like many communication apps, Telegram includes chatbots. Bots add useful functions both on their own and into your chats; they can do everything from checking the weather to playing games.

There are times when we know our close ones studying, sleeping, or attending meetings, but we want to send some messages without disturbing them. Well, there is a feature called Silent Messages on Telegram. Basically, you can send messages and it will not make any sound or vibration even if the recipient has not turned on DND. That’s great, right? So to use this feature, type out your message and then tap and hold the “send” button. Here, choose “Send without sound” and you are done. You'll have four options to choose from: You can also able to set your chat to self-destruct in a certain period of time after it has been read or opened. To preview a chat, simply press and hold its profile picture in your chat list.

To do this, choose the items you want to send and tap on the three-dot menu. Now select “send without compression”, and you are good to go. Telegram has a unique feature called Channels that allow you to broadcast messages to large audiences. Unlike Groups, Telegram Channels can have an unlimited amount of subscribers, and only admins have the right to post content. 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. One of the nagging issues I have with WhatsApp is its extremely limited text editing features. For example, if someone sends a message, you can’t select a part of text from the message. You will have to copy the whole message and then edit it out in the small text field which frankly is very annoying. However, Telegram has brought a great way to select and copy a part of a message. Tap and hold on a message to select it first and then again tap and hold to select your part of the message. That’s ingenious, right?

Add Animated Stickers to Images/Videos The reason for this is Telegram’s enhanced use of the cloud. Essentially, it stores all of your messages and photos on a secure server. This means you can access them from any connected device, making Telegram much more multi-platform friendly than other chat apps like WhatsApp.