Telegram’s popularity may be overshadowed by that of WhatsApp, but the messaging service is far richer in terms of features, so much so that it’s fair to say no competitor even comes close. What’s more impressive is the pace at which it receives new features – the team behind Telegram likes to send out major updates on a roughly monthly basis. The one from last month, for example, added a whole new download manager and made some UI changes, among other things. And now, it’s time for yet another update, only the list of new features has gotten even lengthier.

First up is the ability to create your own notification tones, letting you turn your favorite music or even memes into custom alerts that can then be assigned to any chats. Telegram’s superior cloud-based architecture also means tones uploaded via one device can be accessed from another.

telegram notification sounds-anim

The latest update further adds custom mute durations, finally doing away with the default eight hours or two days only options. These can be set through a new streamlined menu that can be accessed through the three-dot menu within any chat.

telegram custom mute durations-anim

You can now also access the recently added auto-delete feature directly from profiles, which when turned on allows for a more Snapchat-like experience where chats are deleted automatically at set intervals. With the new update, these intervals support more flexible timer settings, too, like one day, two weeks, three months, and more. Another minor yet notable change is that reply previews are now included when you forward messages to other chats.

Perhaps the most underrated change that’ll likely take some time before going mainstream is a whole new dimension added to Telegram bots, which can “completely replace any website,” as Telegram notes in its blog post. This is made possible thanks to the magic of JavaScript. You can check out a short demo of the new capabilities using the example @DurgerKingBot to understand it better.

All of these new features look to have been made widely available already through Telegram 8.7.0, now rolling out for both Android and iOS.

Thanks: Armando