Telegram Gets Another Major Update on iPhone and Android

Telegram is getting another major update, and just as expected, this one includes not only new features but also plenty of refinements here and there.

The first important addition concerns custom notification sounds, which essentially means that Telegram users can now create their own tones within the app. The tones, however, are currently limited to 5 seconds and must be up to 300 KB in size.

“You can now turn any sound into a notification tone, creating custom alerts from your favorite music or even memes (and meows). Tap a short audio file or voice message in chat to instantly add it to your list of notification sounds, which you can assign to any chats. You can access your sounds on all your devices via Settings > Notifications and Sounds. There you can add new tones and set sounds for individual chats or entire groups of chats,” the Telegram team announced.

Furthermore, the update includes new settings to configure custom mute durations, a welcome refinement from the previous fixed values.

Overhauled experience with bots

Bots are an important part of the experience with Telegram, and the app is now introducing new capabilities on this front.

“Today we're adding an entire new dimension, giving bot developers the tools to create infinitely flexible interfaces with JavaScript, one of the most popular programming languages in the world. With this, Telegram bots can completely replace any website. Telegram bots can also handle small tasks like chat management by adding extra features, automating processes or helping moderators. Users can now quickly add bots to their group or channel right from the bot's profile and instantly configure rights and permissions for the bot,” the release notes read.

iPhone users are also getting improved translation capabilities, while those on Android are provided with refinements for the PiP experience.