Telegram updates to version 12.5: What’s new

Telegram has updated to version 12.5. The release introduces several new features, which we break down below.

Members Tags

Group chat participants can now add a tag next to their name. This can indicate a role at work, a university major, or other information. Chat administrators can allow or restrict tags. Admin tags in chats are always highlighted in color.

Users can now restrict sharing of content from any private chat. If copying is disabled, participants cannot forward or copy messages, take screenshots, or save media files. This feature is available only to Premium subscribers.

Captions for GIFs

Captions can now be added to GIF animations, both above and below the image. GIFs can also be edited in the built-in photo editor, including adding text, drawings, and emojis, as well as trimming and cropping animations.

Instant Stickers

Photos can now be turned into stickers. To do this, open a photo in the messenger and select “Create Sticker.” The sticker can be quickly saved to Favorites.

Stickers can also be edited in the photo editor.

Timestamps for Polls

Public polls now display the voting time of each participant.

Log In With Telegram

Logging in via Telegram has become more convenient. Users no longer need to fill out forms or enter passwords. Instead, they can share their phone number with a website and then confirm by tapping the emoji shown on the site in the Telegram app.

Time and Date Formatting

Messages now include a new text formatting option: date. By tapping such text, users can add an event to their calendar or create a reminder. The feature takes each participant’s time zone into account.

Bot messages can also use dynamically inserted time variables so that the exact date and time are always displayed according to the recipient’s time zone.