Telegram is a messaging service that is not as popular as WhatsApp. However, in terms of functions, it is a chat with more versatility and much superior. And one peculiarity that it has is the high frequency with which it is updated.
Last month’s, for example, added an entirely new download manager and made some UI changes, among other things. And this week it’s time for a new update, only the list of new features has gotten even longer.
First up is the ability to create your own notification tones, allowing you to turn your favorite music or even memes into custom alerts that can then be assigned to any chat. Telegram’s superior cloud-based architecture also means that ringtones uploaded via one device can be accessed from another.
Additionally, the latest update further adds custom silent durations, finally removing the default options of eight hours or just two days. These can be configured through a new simplified menu that can be accessed via the three-dot menu within any chat.
In this way, version 8.7 of Telegram allows us to customize notifications with greater precision than ever, being able to create our own notification tones with their own sounds or silence them for a certain time with greater precision than ever.
Auto-Delete Another feature added to the new version allows access to the recently added auto-delete feature directly from profiles, which when enabled allows for a more Snapchat-like experience where chats are automatically deleted at set intervals.
With the new update, these intervals also support more flexible timer settings such as one day, two weeks, three months, and more. Another minor but notable change is that reply previews are now included when forwarding messages to other chats.
Perhaps the most underrated change that will probably take some time before it goes mainstream is a whole new dimension added to Telegram bots, which can “completely replace any website,” as Telegram points out in its blog post.
Telegram has many bots with different functions. Photo Telegram
This is where they mark another improvement: in their BOT platform, which allows developers to create interfaces with JavaScript.
In fact, this allows you to create all kinds of complex applications in Telegram stickers, without having to submit to browsers.
Another change related to bots is that users can now add bots to groups or channel profiles, then easily set permissions.
WhatsApp adds communities
Communities will come to WhatsApp.
Last week, WhatsApp presented this Thursday a series of news that will soon arrive at the mobile messaging service, many of them filtered in recent months through the WABetainfo site, except for the confirmation of Communities.
“It has long been clear that the way we communicate online is changing. Most of us use social media and feeds to discover interesting content and stay up to date. But for a deeper level of interaction, messaging became the go-to. center of our digital lives,” he explained.
Due to developments in privacy, security and protection, WhatsApp has recently implemented video chats, voice messages, status, commerce, payments and more. With the announcement of Communities, as they recognize from Meta, it will allow people not only to communicate with friends and close contacts, but also with all the different communities in their lives.
The spirit of this new feature, which is currently part of a series of tests in various countries, will be focused on linking the various communities that coexist in the messaging app -school, work, friends, family or neighbors of the building – without having to create a specific group for each one.
To help protect user privacy, your phone number will be hidden from the Community and only visible to admins and people within the same group. This will help prevent unwanted contacts and will also reduce the risk of unauthorized access to the phone numbers of people in a Community.
The arrival of WhatsApp Communities will serve to organize all group chats and quickly find information, among other things. For that, the user will be able to gather different groups in a Community; for example, in addition to individual groups for different classes, you might have a general Community for parents in a school with a main site for announcements and tools for administrators.