Telegram, A next-generation end-to-end instant messenger, or just another whatsapp photocopy. (Part 2)

Repository

https://github.com/DrKLO/Telegram

Introduction

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Hello, I'm Harry. This is the sequel to my blog post that highlighted the features of Telegram instant messenger, especially where it is superior to that of WhatsApp. In that post, WhatsApp messenger was kind of placed in a bad position and I decided to write another post where I'll discuss some features of Whatsapp that is superior to the features of Telegram and also highlight some features I'll love to see implemented on Telegram.

Have fun reading!

Post Body

The Telegram software has a lot of features, some of which I mentioned in my previous post. Aside from the features I made mention in that post, the rest of Telegram features are quite common in virtually all instant messengers that exist.
The WhatsApp software has some really cool features that make it amazing too and I'll ideally love to see being implemented on Telegram, but like part of my post title suggests, if these features are implemented on Telegram, maybe then it could be called WhatsApp's photocopy just the opensource variant. I guess the developers don't wish for such insinuations that's why they haven't implemented these features yet.

Whatsapp features unavailable on Telegram

1. Whatsapp status.

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It is good to point out that although instant messengers are used for social interactions, they are not actually social media. By social media, I mean the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin etc. Instant messengers are primarily a medium through which 2 or more participants can engage in a conversation. This sort of eradicates some sort of social activities and WhatsApp in a bid to create an avenue for users to kind of have the social media feel, implemented the status feature. Now with this feature users can share their activities however they like either texts, pictures or even videos and when these activities are broadcasted it can be seen by that user's contacts. This feature is really cool because it does not just broadcast these activities, it gives you information about how many people have seen the status update and you can also decide which members on your contact list that can view these updates. Moreso, I think this is limitless, meaning users can upload as much status they like but then it is isn't cool uploading a lot. I personally dislike users who upload more than 10 activities on their status. Furthermore, users can add captions to pictures or videos they upload.
WhatsApp seems to put limits on virtually everything and once again this is present in this feature. Text statuses are limited to 700 characters. This is not an issue for me though but I think it might be some other users. I hope Whatsapp doesn't allow unlimited characters because some users might abuse it and upload full ebooks on their statuses.
Overall, this feature is really cool and I wish developers of Telegram will consider including this feature in the software.

2. Group voice and video call

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Whatsapp did great with this feature. The voice and video call is basic but making it a group thing is simply amazing. I've utilized the video call feature several times and it is really smooth and clear, it's better when the camera of the device is topnotch and internet connection is good and stable. The group voice or video call is limited to just four participants which are a little bit small but still cool in my opinion. Also while making video or voice calls, users can quickly switch between the two while still on the current call.
Telegram has only voice call feature, it is really good too but the unavailability of the video call is a huge letdown. Virtually all the instant messengers I'm aware of support video calls. I hope it's something that will be implemented soon.

3. Star messages.

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Have you ever had a lengthy conversation with someone and along the way there's an important part of the conversation you wanted to read or access for reference purpose but it would take quite a handful amount of time to get back to that particular message? WhatsApp introduced star messages in 2015, this feature basically allows users to mark favorite bits of conversations to access at a later time.
Telegram doesn't have the feature and I don't think this is a feature that might not be integrated anytime soon.

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These are the only features I'm aware that WhatsApp has over Telegram. From my previous contribution, it can be seen that Telegram has nine (9) distinct features and that's a lot compared to WhatsApp's three (3). However, as I said, the features of WhatsApp mentioned in this post are the ones I'm aware of and there's a high probability that there are more features or not. With that being said these features are really important in my opinion especially the video call feature which is missing on Telegram and it's quite surprising.

This brings me to,

Feature I'll like to see on Telegram

1. Video call.

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This feature would be significant to UX on the software. Sometimes voice call doesn't always cut it, especially when communicating with loved ones. I'm not entirely sure and maybe just assuming but I think the absence of this feature is one of the reasons why Telegram doesn't have as many end users as it could have. Making this feature just like it is on Whatsapp with the group calling would be a plus.

2. Pause and resume on file sharing.

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This is me totally overthinking, because the implementation of this feature may require serious coding or not, I can't really say because I'm not a developer. However, it may be tedious but not impossible. It's awesome already that users can share large files to their friends on Telegram, it'll be more awesome if users can also choose to pause this operation to resume at a later, maybe due to poor internet connection or data limits.

3. Live Group play.

I'm not entirely sure about the title of this feature though, but, the idea of this feature is an inspiration from "Discord" software. On some servers on discord, they have music bots that enable them to play music and every member is online and is connected can listen to the songs that is being played. Also, live conversations can be initiated and this is just totally amazing. Telegram groups can already use bots but I'm certain that there are limits to these bots hence this feature cannot work. I'll love to have this feature on Telegram.

The above are the features I'll like to see on Telegram for now. There are a lot of other features that are roughly visualized in my imaginations and when they become clear, I'll share those features in my next blog post on this series.

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Summary.

This post was originally intended to highlight areas where WhatsApp outshines Telegram and while I've pointed those areas out, it won't take a genius to know that WhatsApp still takes a beating from Telegram. However the Whatsapp features Telegram doesn't have are really important and will have a significant impact on Telegram user experience, especially the status, and video call features.
Furthermore, the features I'll like to see on Telegram maybe me asking for too much, however, they are features that are very important to me and I'm quite sure it'll be important to some other users.
Conclusively, after weighing the distinct features between these awesome instant messengers, it is once again safe to say that Telegram is a next-generation instant messenger with potentials for greater achievements.

Thank for you reading. Stayed tuned for my next post on this series where I'll be talking about the features I'll like to see on Telegram. If you have some awesome ideas of features you'll to see on Telegram, you can share them in the comments section.

Resources

https://telegram.org/faq#q-how-is-telegram-different-from-whatsapp
https://faq.whatsapp.com/

Series Backlinks

Telegram, A next-generation end-to-end instant messenger, or just another WhatsApp photocopy.