Telegram Presents Paid Subscription and Adds New Free Features

Telegram messenger has officially announced the launch of a paid subscription Telegram Premium. According to the messenger, the subscription doubles all the limits in the app.

Users get many perks. At the same time, all existing features remain free for everyone. Moreover, non-premium users will be able to get some of the perks available to premium users:

The contributions of premium subscribers will help improve and expand the app for decades to come, while Telegram will remain free, independent and uphold its users-first values.

What does Telegram Premium offer?

Telegram claims that exclusive additional features will become available to Telegram Premium users in the future. Meanwhile, the set is quite extensive.

Telegram also offers the subscription through the official bot, but it is not available on older versions.

4 GB Uploads and faster downloads

With the subscription, the maximum downloadable file size increases from 2 GB to 4 GB - that's as much as 4 hours of 1080p video or 18 days of high-quality audio.

All users, regardless of subscription, will be able to download larger files. In addition, subscribers will be able to download photos, videos, and documents at the fastest possible speed without any limits.

Telegram emphasizes that the download speed of any files with the subscription now only depends on the Internet connection.

Doubled limits, voice-to-text conversion, and animated profile pictures

With Premium, you can follow up to 1000 channels, create up to 20 chat folders with up to 200 chats each, add a fourth account to any Telegram app, pin 10 chats in the main list and save up to 10 favorite stickers.

You can also write a longer bio and include a link in it. Similarly, Premium allows adding more characters to media captions, as well as saving up to 400 favorite GIFs.

Furthermore, Premium users can simultaneously use up to 20 public t.me links for their group or channel.

With Premium, you can also convert voice messages to text by clicking the voice-to-text conversion button.

The profile videos of premium users will animate for everyone throughout the app – including in chats and the chat list.

Unique stickers, reactions, and advanced chat management features

Dozens of stickers are made more spectacular with full-screen animations. This premium sticker collection will be updated monthly by Telegram artists.

Premium users now have more ways to react to messages, with over 10 new emojis being available to them.

With Telegram Premium, you can turn any folder into the default folder. For example, the app will always open on a custom folder or, say, Unread instead of All Chats.

Additionally, subscribers can enable a setting in Privacy and Security to automatically archive and mute new chats.

No ads, premium badges, and app icons

Ads that are placed in the messenger on the official platform will no longer appear for subscribers of Telegram Premium.

All premium users get a Premium special badge that appears next to their name in the chat list, chat headers, and member lists in groups – showing that they help support Telegram and are part of the club that receives exclusive features first.

Premium users also get a set of exclusive icons for the Telegram app to their Home Screen. The set includes the star symbol of Telegram Premium, night sky, and turbo-plane.

New features for everyone

Telegram promises that new features will still be available to all users. You can also find them in the new update.

Join Requests for Public Groups

Groups admins can now enable join requests to review new members before approving them to write in the chat.

When a user first enters a group, they will see a Request to Join button. The application will go to a list for admins.

Administrators can also write to future members privately, for example, to have a chat to cover the rules. Telegram lets the user know they're reaching out as a group admin.

Verification badges in chats and better bots

Public figures and organizations can verify their group, channel, or bot. In this case, a verification badge appears next to the name.

It indicates that the information is coming from a confirmed source. The icon doesn’t only appear in profiles, search results, and the chat list, but also at the top of the chat.

Additionally, bot developers can now include a photo or video in the “What can this bot do?” section.

Bots that are integrated into the attachment menu can now also be modified for working in groups and channels.

Improved chat preview on Android and automatic saving to gallery

This update brings improved chat previews on par with iOS. Now you can scroll through them to view the whole chat without marking it as read.

There are also new buttons that let you mark the chat as read, mute it, pin it or delete it.

On top of that, the option to automatically save media to Gallery is back on Android.

According to Telegram, saving media can now be enabled and disabled separately for chats with users, groups, or channels.

Improved external sharing on iOS

Telegram allows users to upload large photos, videos, and other files, including directly from other apps. You don't have to save the file before sending it in Telegram.

When sending large files shared from another app on iOS, you can now find an animated progress bar.

Animated profile picture creator on macOS

Users on macOS now have a quick way to generate a custom profile picture. To do this, choose any sticker or animated emoji as the focus, and add a colorful gradient background.

This feature is available for specialized video groups and channels.

Fast and stable app

Overall, the update includes over 100 fixes and optimizations - eliminating bugs, improving speed, and expanding minor features.

iOS users with the latest iPhones and iPads get significantly smoother animations (120 FPS), and Android users will notice better audio and video quality in voice and video messages.

On top of everything else, Telegram said that the number of active users has now exceeded 700 million monthly users.