Telegram increases file size limit to 2GB, adds support for multiple accounts on Desktop, profile videos on mobile
Cloud messaging service Telegram has announced a major update for its apps on mobile and desktop. It brings a slew of new features, here's a list of the important ones.
File size limit increased
Telegram has increased the file size limit for shared content to 2GB per file. This is not limited to media files, it works with all attachments. Prior to this upgrade, users had been able to send files up to 1.5GB in size. The announcement post took a subtle dig at a "totally random number 16MB", which just so happens to be the file size limit of its rival, the Facebook-owned messaging platform, WhatsApp.
Desktop improvements
If you have more than 1 Telegram account, but prefer to use your computer for chatting, there's good news for you. Telegram for Desktop now allows you to use multiple accounts at the same time. Click on the menu button on the desktop client, and then on the caron symbol (downwards arrow) to expand the panel (it changes to a caret icon). Use the "add new account option" that you want to manage.
Switch between your accounts quickly by using the same steps described above. You can use up to 3 accounts at the same time. Multiple accounts are available in version 2.2 of the program. This isn't a new feature per se, since it has been available in the mobile apps since 2017. But, it's nice to see the desktop program get the same treatment.
More Animated Emojis
Telegram has added support for more animated emojis. It brings animations for popular emojis like sticking out tongue, blush, thinking face, applause, hand wave and even a cool sponge animation.
There's a new dynamic "goal" emoji in Telegram Desktop which you can bring up by typing "football" or "soccer", or just paste this âš½ï¸Â into a chat. Hit the send button and you might score a goal. These emojis work on both the desktop and mobile apps, as long as they are on the current version.
Mobile app improvements
Forget static DPs, Telegram has added support for Profile videos. You can use the Telegram mobile app to set a video or GIF as your display picture. While setting the video, you'll be prompted to select the "cover" for your profile.
This is the thumbnail that will be displayed in chats, the animation is only displayed when someone views your profile. The Profile Video editor allows you to rotate or flip the image, adjust the color tone, add stickers or text to it. The media editor's new "soften skin" feature is also available, along with options to adjust the exposure and enhance the image.
I tested this with Telegram 6.3.0 on Android and iOS, and it works well. You can capture a new video or use an existing one from your gallery.
Though you can only set profile videos from the mobile apps, Telegram for Desktop can be used to view the animated media the profile pages. Profile Videos do not support audio,
Android users get a new music player that supports a track list. It has options to loop, shuffle the playlist. The video editor gets 2 new options for cropping and rotating videos.
There are a few more features available with this update such as graphs for Telegram Group stats, improved people nearby, etc.
Now You: do you use messaging apps or services? If so which, and why?
Most people are finding it is related to the newest Pokémon Go! update. If you check control center, Pokémon Go! has accessed location just prior to the vibrations.
You are the best I didn’t even think about that being the problem even tho I said to my friend it’s vibrating randomly like Pokémon go does when new Pokémon pop up
It’s happening on beta release isn’t this to be expected? Any beta release is going to have bugs.
“You can browse the internet privately on your iPhone too”
No, you can’t. See below.
“This means that no one will be able to see what you’ve been browsing unless you tell them.”
No-one you would allow to use your devices. It’s important to remind that online trackers still get almost as much as before in this mode, tracking you for the duration of the session at least. In fact a quick search on whether cookies (and local storage, indexedDB, and so on) are even cleared at exit or not in Apple’s private browsing gives contradictory answers (maybe this has to do with Apple’s habit of conveniently avoiding to get technical with users, even when that means more opportunities to fool them) and your article doesn’t say more, so it’s not even clear to me that there is any protection against online trackers.
About the other Apple privacy tools you mention, I wouldn’t trust them. They killed the actual privacy tools like ublock origin on Safari that hide the IP address from trackers, to then provide their own fake replacement, like Google and their Mozilla pet company are slowly doing too with their own browsers. From the mouth of such companies, even “blocking cookies” may actually mean something weaker, like having an undisclosed tracker whitelist for bullshit reasons that ublock origin doesn’t seem to need (Mozilla does that for instance), not actually blocking them but just isolating them while still writing they’re blocked (Mozilla did that through inaccurate UI wording for third-party cookies), or keeping in place for years privacy bugs that they are aware of and that don’t remove storage when it’s supposed to be (Mozilla again, and they’re not worse than the others). And it’s only a few examples.
Is there also need to remind that Safari like all the other big browsers is infested with Apple’s own spyware antifeatures (including for advertisers, unlike what they pretend in their ads) ?
Sneak PEEK.
It has been weeks where the comments sections are littered with old unrelated comments. Maybe it’s time to say goodbye to ghacks.