Telegram is being rolled out new update Offers improved calling with a new design that consumes less of your phone’s battery. The update also brings new animations, improvements to the app’s bots platform, and more.
The company says it has redesigned calls and added wallpapers that change dynamically based on the call’s status: ringing, active, or ended. The new interface requires fewer resources than before, which means it saves battery life and works better on older devices. The update also brings improvements to call quality. Telegram says it plans to launch further improvements to connectivity and voice quality in 2024.
Telegram is also launching updates to its bot platform, which allows developers to integrate services into the Telegram ecosystem. Bots can now interact with messages, manage reactions, quotes and links, send replies to chats or other topics, and more. Bots can also receive information about gifts and promotions in channels where they are administrators.
Additionally, Telegram is offering its evaporation animation to iOS and Android users after previously testing it with select users. The new effect is triggered whenever you delete a message, and is designed to add a little fun to the app.
The launch of the new features comes a month after Telegram announced improvements to channels, customization of emojis for interactions, and story stats to better compete with WhatsApp, which launched its broadcast channel features to all users in September 2023. Although Telegram has long had channels for a year, , the app must continue to innovate in order to be able to compete with WhatsApp.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently said on his WhatsApp radio channel that the Channels feature has crossed the 500 million monthly active users mark. For context, WhatsApp has more than 2 billion monthly active users, and Telegram has more than 800 million monthly active users.