Telegram is rolling out a new update that introduces improved calls with a new design that uses less of your phone’s battery. The update also brings new animations, enhancements to the app’s bot platform and more.
The company says it has redesigned calls and added backgrounds 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 more improvements to connection and audio quality in 2024.
Telegram is also launching updates to its bot platform, which lets developers integrate services into the Telegram ecosystem. Bots can now react to messages and manage reactions, quotes and links, send replies to other chats or topics, and more. Bots can also get information about giveaways and boosts in channels where they are admins.
Additionally, Telegram is bringing its vaporize animation to both iOS and Android users after previously testing it with select users. The new effect plays whenever you delete a message, and is designed to bring a bit of fun to the app.
The launch of the new features comes a month after Telegram announced improvements to channels, emoji customization for reactions and stats for stories to compete better with WhatsApp, which launched its broadcast channels features to all users in September 2023. Although Telegram has had channels for a long time now, the app has to keep innovating in order to compete with WhatsApp.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently said in his broadcast channel in WhatsApp that the channels feature had crossed the mark of 500 million monthly active users. For context, WhatsApp has more than 2 billion monthly active users and Telegram has over 800 million monthly active users.