This summer, the number of active Telegram users exceeded 700 million. To celebrate the event, the Telegram team launched a Telegram Premium subscription to support further Telegram development and gain access to unique additional features.
And just a few days ago, they introduced us to a new emoji creation platform, animated emoji in message texts and media file captions, authoring emoji sets, the ability to gift Telegram Premium to another user, blocking voice messages, and more.
Author animated emoji
Telegram now has a platform for creating new emoji - you can upload your own sets with unique characters for Premium users.
New animated emoji can be added directly to the text of messages or photo and video captions to convey any emotion - even in the middle of a phrase.
As you type a message, the sticker bar icon changes to an emoji button. When you click on it, a new emoji panel opens, where it's convenient to view your sets and add new ones.
All users can see any animated emoji, and send them to the chat Favorites to try new animations - or just to decorate their notes.
The emoji tooltips display all the sets: if you enter, for example, the word :laughter or :hmm, Telegram will suggest suitable emoji from your entire collection. A tooltip with animated images will also appear if you enter a static emoji.
Interactive animated emoji
Many popular emoji and their "alter egos" from authoring sets can be interacted with in personal chats: if either of the interlocutors clicks on a message with an emoji, both chat participants will simultaneously see a full-screen animation.
Additional animations are usually found in commonly used emoji, such as 😂😍😁😱❤️👍🎉 - but are also found in rarer ones: 💸🔥👻.
New Telegram Sticker Bar for iOS
We've redesigned Telegram's sticker panel for iOS. Now you can quickly and easily switch between sections with stickers, emoji, and GIFs - just like in the Telegram apps for Android, computers, and browsers.
Voice message blocking
Premium users have a new option in the settings: prohibit voice and video messaging. With it you can choose who can send such messages: Everyone, My Contacts or No one.
Give as a gift Telegram Premium
If you already own Telegram Premium, you can share all the benefits with your family, friends and colleagues by giving them a prepaid 3, 6 or 12-month subscription - at a nice discount.
The gift will be instantly delivered to your chat with the recipient as a special message with an animated gift box.
To please the user with a subscription, open Profile > ⋮ > Gift Premium option.
New Interactive Emoji
Creating interactive emoji with additional full-screen animations has become a tradition - and today there's another addition to the collection: 🍌🤨⚡️💔🏆😐. To see the animation, simply send one of these emoji in a separate message to your personal chat, and then tap the big emoji on the screen.
