Telegram gets Voice Chat 2.0, recorded chats, Android swipe gestures and more

Telegram, back in December, introduced voice chats on its platform. Today, the messaging app introduced an updated version of the feature called Voice Chats 2.0 on its platform. Additionally, the company has also introduced Raise Hands and Join As features on its platform.

Voice Chats 2.0

Voice Chats 2.0 brings a host of updates to the original feature. Firstly, voice chats are now available in channels and public groups. The company has also removed a limit on the number of participants, which means that any number of participants can chime in voice conversations in a group.

In addition to this, Telegram has also introduced a feature that enables users to record audio from voice chats to save talks and publish them for followers who missed the live event. Once the admins have finished recording, the audio file becomes instantly available in users’ Saved Messages. To avoid confusion, Telegram marks the chats that are being recorded with a red light next to their title.

Raise Hands

Telegram has also introduced a Raise Hands feature, similar to the one available in video conferencing platforms, in chats with multiple participants. The company says that in chats where participants are muted, listeners can tap to raise their hand and alert the admins that they want to speak.

Apart from this, the company is also making a user’s bio text visible in the list of participants, which can then be used to detail their expertise and interests among other things. The company says that this info will help admins find a good slot for their questions and comments.

The list doesn’t end there. Telegram said that admins of public groups and channels can now create invite links that open the voice chat right away. Separate links can be made for speakers and listeners. This way users won't need to unmute important guests when they join.

Join As

The messaging app has also introduced a Join As feature which enables users to either join with their personal account or appear as one of their channels when entering a voice chat in a channel. Celebrities and public figures can use this to avoid drawing too much attention to their personal accounts.

And more

Additionally, the company has introduced some tweaks that improve the overall usage of the app. For instance, now when users choose the wrong chat by mistake when forwarding messages, they can press the X button before sending them to either cancel forwarding or choose a different chat.

They can also resume playback from where you left off when listening to long voice messages. This was previously available for long videos and long audio tracks only. Lastly, Android users can choose which action is assigned to swiping left in the chat list. The list includes archiving chats, pinning, muting, deleting or marking them as read.