Telegram update: Both Premium and free members get new features – Times of India

Telegram has recently updated its official blog to announce a new update that will add some visual changes that will be available for all users while Premium users will receive a few new features. The most notable addition that will be available for Premium users is the voice-to-text conversion feature for video messages. Apart from this, the instant messaging platform has added some other tools for all users, changes for both iOS and Android apps along with some minor design changes. Here we have discussed the new features that will arrive for both paid and non-paid users of Telegram.
Voice-to-text conversion for video messages
Telegram Premium members have been able to convert any voice message to text since the beginning of the service. This feature helps the user to read the received voice message rather than listen to the clip. Now, this feature is also available for video messages as well and Telegram Premium users will be offered instant text transcripts for video messages.
Topics in Groups
This feature will allow groups with over 200 members to enable topics and create separate spaces for any subject. These Topics will function as individual chats within the group and will support individual shared media and notification settings. Telegram will also let users access other features like polls, pinned messages and bots in the Topics.
This feature is designed specifically for large groups and the platform is expected to introduce other tools aimed at small groups. Group admins can enable topics in the Group Settings, and can also control the members who can create and manage topics in Permissions.

Collectable usernames
Usernames help Telegram users to find the public groups and channels of other users. Instead of having a single basic username, people can now add multiple collectable usernames to each account and public chat. TON is a fast and scalable blockchain network that secures the ownership of collectable usernames. Telegram will also help users to buy and sell these usernames via a new platform. This will enable users to acquire and exchange various Telegram domains.
Collectable usernames work just like basic @usernames and have separate links that can be used outside of Telegram. However, unlike basic usernames, collectable usernames can be less than 5 characters long. Users can also deactivate collectable usernames that will make them invisible in search results without losing the name.
Other new changes
Along with these changes, Telegram has also made some minor changes to the messaging service on different platforms. The new update will add 12 new emoji packs for Premium users and will introduce a redesigned night mode for iOS users with balanced colours and improved blurring effects.

This new update will also allow Android users to change the text size in the Chat Settings of the app. These texts include — link previews, reply headers and more. Meanwhile, users will be able to see a new animation when they swipe left for replying and users can access a new menu with multiple call options by tapping the phone number on a profile page.