Silent Messages, Slow Mode, Admin Titles and More

The previous update brought more movement to Telegram – this one brings more peace of mind. You can now message friends freely when you know they are sleeping, studying or attending a meeting.

Simply hold the Send button to have any message or media delivered without sound.

Your recipient will get a notification as usual, but their phone won't make a sound – even if they forgot to enable the Do Not Disturb mode.

This also works in groups, should you get an urgent idea at five in the morning – but not urgent enough to wake up everyone in your work chat.

Slow Mode

In case a group you manage is getting hard to follow, the Group Permissions section now features a Slow Mode switch.

When an admin enables Slow Mode in a group, you will only be able to send one message per the interval they choose. A timer will show how long you have to wait before sending your next message.

Slow Mode can make conversations in the group more orderly, while raising the value of each individual message. Keep it on permanently, or toggle as necessary to throttle rush hour traffic.

Admin Titles

If new time-lord powers aren't enough, group owners can now set custom titles for admins like ‘Meme Queen’, ‘Spam Hammer’ or ‘El Duderino’.

As with the default admin labels, custom titles are shown with every message in the group so members know that they‘re talking to the designated ’Myth Buster'.

To add a custom title, edit the admin's rights in Group Settings.

Timestamps and Improved Scrubbing

Videos now display thumbnail previews as you scrub through, to help you find the moment you were looking for.

If you add a timestamp like 0:45 to a video caption, it will be automatically highlighted as a link. Tapping on a timestamp will play the video from the right spot. This also works if you mention a timestamp when replying to a video.

Timestamps are also supported for YouTube videos, in case you want to mark your favorite moments when sharing a Kurzgesagt episode.

Animated Emoji

When you have animated stickers, why not go one step further and get animated emoji? To check them out, send a single , , , or to any chat.

If your life feels a little too animated recently, Sticker Settings now offer a toggle for looped playback. When disabled, animated stickers will play just once then stay still.

Android's New Attachment Menu

Android’s attachment menu got a makeover, giving media more real estate. Larger thumbnails make it easier to pick photos and videos at a glance, and swiping up will reveal your full Gallery for better browsing.

You can scroll left and right through the other attachment options like locations, polls and music. When selecting media, tap ‘…’ to send items as uncompressed documents.

Accent Colors for Night Mode on iOS

iOS users can now choose accent colors for night themes. The night doesn't always have to be black and blue, after all.

Comments Widget

Comments.App, our tool for commenting on channel posts, now lets you add a comments widget to your website.

With the widget in place, Telegram users will be able to log in with just two taps and leave comments with text and photos, as well as like, dislike and reply to comments from others.

They can also subscribe to comments and get notifications from @DiscussBot.

Open this page in your browser to try the new widget – it doesn't support Instant View pages… yet.

That’s all for now, and don’t worry — the next Telegram update won’t be sent silently.

August 9, 2019
The Telegram Team