Telegram Adds AI-Powered Custom Sticker Search and Video Improvements

Telegram added several new features to its platform on Thursday. The instant messaging platform is now expanding its artificial intelligence (AI) sticker search capability to show custom stickers created by the community. Additionally, there are several video-based upgrades. Users can now copy and share video links in the app with a specific time stamp. Telegram channel owners will also be able to add cover photos to the videos they share on the channel. Additionally, the platform will also allow users to resume a video exactly where they left it using saved progress.

Telegram Introduces New Features

In its third major update of the year, Telegram has added several quality-of-life features for users. The company detailed the new additions in a blog post, highlighting the new functionalities users can try out. The first is the expansion of the AI-powered sticker search feature.

It was first added in December 2024, and allowed users to search for stickers just by describing them in natural language. The platform uses an AI model to contextually understand the prompt and matches it with stickers that resemble the visual information. So far, it was only available for the stickers from Telegram's official packs. However, now the feature supports millions of community-created custom stickers as well. The feature supports 29 languages including English, Spanish, Arabic and Hindi.

Another new feature is video time-stamps. Telegram users can copy and share video links on the platform, which is usually done to forward them to friends or family. Now, when sharing a video, users can go to a particular time that they want others to see, and share the video with the time-stamp. When another user opens it, it will directly start playing from that particular moment.

Telegram channel owners will now be able to select a cover photo for videos they post. The feature is similar to Telegram Stories and allows users to choose a specific frame from the video as its cover. Once selected, the cover can also be customised with text, stickers, and emojis via the app's video editor tool.

Another video-focused update is saved progress. Telegram will now save users' progress while watching videos, and will allow them to resume exactly where they left it. The company says this feature is helpful for long-form content and will save users's time spent in scrolling through the video to find the spot they need to resume from.

Apart from this, the platform is also expanding its Star reaction functionality to allow users to react to posts in channels using their channel's identity. Telegram says this will boost the visibility of content creators. Finally, users will also be able to explore similar bots from bot profiles.