Telegram Gets Real Time Chat Translation, Annual Premium Subscription, and More in Latest Update

Telegram rolled out its first major update of 2023 on February 3 and added a few important features. The last major update that the app received was in December last year. Some of the latest updates are, however, available for Telegram Premium users only, among which is also the option of translating an entire chat in real time. The translate button is located at the top of any foreign-language thread, including personal chats, groups and channels. Users can choose which languages to translate to or hide the bar from the options menu.

Among updates that are available for all users is the option to see a detailed breakdown of the network usage by the Telegram app. A post on the social media platform's official site said, “You can see how much data has been used by Telegram with detailed pie charts for Wi-Fi and mobile data – and adjust your auto-download settings to suit your data plan.”

Users can also control the autosave feature of any incoming media with the latest Telegram update. “You can control when media is saved automatically to your gallery based on its size, type and which chat it was received from. This menu now also supports exceptions, so you can only save exactly what you want,” the post read. This feature is supported by another one dubbed the “Granular Media Permissions”, which allows admins to “choose whether group members are allowed to send 9 distinct media types – like photos, voice or video messages. They can also disable text messages to create media-only groups.” It also enables “voice notes only or quiz-only communication” without regular admin interference.

With the new update, Telegram users who have logged out can quickly re-enter their Apple or Google IDs without accessing an SMS code, but they will still be required to enter their 2-Step Verification password if they have one set.

This update also allows bot developers on Telegram to “add special buttons which help users select groups, channels or people that meet predefined criteria. For example, this can be used to quickly add the bot to a group where the user is an admin and topics are enabled.”

Telegram also introduced several updates with regard to emojis. The site has introduced several hundreds of custom emojis and interactive emojis, the latter will “unleash a full-screen effect” when tapped, as per the post. All “stickers and emoji are now sorted by categories” and users can “hold any emoji to zoom in and get a better look before sending.” Telegram also allows “any sticker or animated emoji” to turn “into a profile picture.”

Another premium feature update mentioned in the post is the offer of a 40 percent discount on the “Telegram Premium subscription by pre-paying for a year.”