Telegam now lets you make animated stickers from videos

Telegram is one of the best IM apps on the market, offering several features before WhatsApp or that are missing entirely from the Facebook-owned app. The development team has just announced a new update, and it brings a couple more handy features to the table.

The Telegram team announced in a blog post that animated stickers can now be created from videos. There are several requirements for the source video though, such as the WebM format, up to 30fps, and no audio stream. Other requirements include one side being 512 pixels in size (the other being 512 pixels or less), a transparent layer, a duration of up to three seconds, and a file size no greater than 256KB.

In other words, this doesn’t mean the average consumer can simply upload a video from their phone’s default video editor to create their own video stickers just yet. But we hope Telegram relaxes some of these requirements in future updates, although it’s already confirmed that the need for a transparent layer is just a temporary one for now.

What else does the new update bring?

This new Telegram update also brings a couple of other additions, with reactions being a focus. For one, you can now hold down on a reaction to send a larger initial effect/animation. Reaction animations are also synchronized now, so a recipient will see the animation play out at the same time as you.

Furthermore, the app will now display a heart icon (similar to the downward arrow icon used for unseen messages in a chat) to show you any unseen reactions to your messages. Finally (when it comes to reactions), the team has brought five new reactions to the table.

Otherwise, the Telegram team says it’s addressed several known issues too, such as improving call quality and sending silent messages via the sharing menu.