Last year I published my first article about Telegram. The title of that article summarized what I wanted to talk about. 'Telegram; A next-generation end-to-end instant messenger, or just another WhatsApp photocopy.' From the title, you will deduce that the article would be a comparison between Telegram and Whatsapp. After I published the first two articles in the series, I stopped the comparison. The essence of my campaign(comparison) had already been justified in those articles. Both apps, Telegram and Whatsapp are amazing instant messengers. However, one of them has higher street credibility(prominence) than the other. And we already know which one it is. Although Whatsapp takes most of the shine in a comparison with other instant messengers, it doesn't make it the best. So far so good, the Telegram team have been putting in a good amount of work with their project. However, I don't see a possibility of Telegram surpassing Whatsapp(in terms of prominence and usage). Maybe sometime in the future though.
Well, as I said, I'm done comparing both apps. Now, I'm hooked on following up Telegram's development progress. And that's why you are seeing(reading) this article.

Telegram released an update recently, and I was quick to get my hands on it(my curiosity instincts are 100%). I wandered around the app, checked out the new features and, played with them. With the amount of time spent on the app, I was able to garner enough content to pen down this review.

Without further ado, let's check out Telegram's latest release..

Review of Telegram's latest release v5.6.2.

Here is the changelog of this release;

• Archived Chats
• New design
• Online badges
• More.

What's 'more' doing on the list? Well, there's more in this update than what's on the list above. Aside from what's listed above, this update brings the following abilities;

• Pin unlimited number of chats in the chat archive.
• See who is online straight from the chat list and sharing menu.
• select multiple chats in the 'chats' list to delete, pin or archive them.
• Chose between two-line and three-line chats in the 'chat' list.
• Use the quick 'Forward' buttons when selecting messages in a chat.
• Copy links to messages in private groups to share with other group messages.

There you have it. The changelog of Telegram v5.6.2. I will be picky with the things I talk about in this review. But be rest assured that I will be sharing valuable information nonetheless.

Archived Chats.

We all know, or have an idea what an archive is right? This new version brings the ability to archive chats. It's not something special though(being honest). Archived chats are not rare features in instant messengers. I'll never be able to guess why the developers kept it away until this release. Well, whatever reason they had, it's all in the past now. The feature is here now, and it's all about improvement from now on.
The archive feature works the way it would on any other instant messenger. But, the developers were a little extra with it. Adding chats to the archive in other messengers would require 2 to 3 actions. But in Telegram, you only need to swipe left. It felt really nice to do. Aside from being nice, the feature is quite important to me. My 'chats' feed was bugged with many airdrop Telegram groups, and it was really messy. I can't exit those groups, else I'd forfeit my participation in the airdrop campaign. I still didn't want them in my face either. So what I did was pack most of them into the archive. I felt relieved.

New design.

When I saw 'New design' in the changelog, I expected to see a brand new user interface. After I checked out the app I discovered that my expectations were too much in the end. There weren't major UI tweaks. Everything was pretty much the same as they were in the previous version. The only change I noticed was as a result of some of the new abilities the app now has. That is the 'quick reply' and 'forward' buttons. I literally turned the app upside down to find out the new design that was stated in the changelog, and found nothing.

Online badges

I'll be honest to say that I don't how this feature looks like on Telegram. But I'm giving this review based on my knowledge of what an online badge is all about on instant messengers.
Basically, an online badge is used to indicate if a person is online. On Whatsapp, it's a single text beside the contact that reads 'online'. I'm not certain, but I think that should be what it is on Telegram. I have not been able to confirm my assumptions because my Telegram contacts aren't 'always online' people. But I have little doubt that my assumptions are incorrect.

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Alright, that's it for new features. Moving over to talk about some of the new abilities the app now has. These abilities are somehow connected to the new features in this version.

Pin unlimited number of chats in the chat archive.

I have talked about archiving chats earlier on, and this ability is part of that new feature. Archiving chats may be of way of getting rid of unwanted chats or grouping important chats. Sometimes, it could be both(reasons). And that's when the pin feature becomes important. In the case where you archive both unwanted and important chats, you can use the pin feature to distinguish. Pinning chats will keep them at a fixed point on the list irrespective of whether a conversation is active or not. And what's cool about the pin feature, in this case, is that it is unlimited. So if you archive about 40 conversations, and 10 of them are important, you can pin all ten without any hassle I don't know why they didn't do same for the main chat page though.

See who is online straight from the chat list and sharing menu.

This ability is definitely related to the 'online badges' feature. And it sort of confirms my assumption about the online badge. But like I said earlier, I've not been able to confirm it because I lack online friends at the moment.

Chose between two-line and three-line chats in the ‘chat’ list.

On the changelog I listed above, there was 'more' on the list, and I think this is one of the 'more'. It might seem basic, but, it's quite important(to me). In the previous version, you could only highlight one line of a message(sent or received text). So there was actually no way of copying more than one line of texts at once, if the need arose. This new Telegram version lays that problem to rest. I'm able to do this on Whatsapp, and it felt good. The fact that I can also do the same on Telegram makes me feel good too.

Record videos.

I came across this feature today. I don't know for how long it has been on Telegram. I'm not sure it was in the previous version. One feature that's common in instant messengers is the ability to record and send voice notes, often called 'VN'. Telegram beats the rest of the pack(other Instant messengers) by including the ability to record and send videos on the app. It's similar to sending a VN. But this time, you can do so with a video. Unlike the VN though, this one is limited, and I know it's due to file size issues. Nevertheless, it's a cool feature and I really like it. Telegram is yet to implement the 'video call' feature, but until then, this one might serve that purpose indirectly.

I think I should stop here for now. If you are pleased with what you've read so far, go on and download the app. Check it out yourself and get a chance to see and feel what I'm talking about.

Summary.

With this update, Telegram has once again reassured it's 'end-user' base that they are committed to making this app amazing. So far, they have ticked most of the boxes I'd ideally love in an instant messenger. I'm excited about the progress level so far, and I wish for me of the same in future releases.

Links

Project repository: https://github.com/DrKLO/Telegram

App download link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.telegram.messenger&hl=en

Resources:

The content of this post was created based on my knowledge of the project, and mostly from my experience. The images used are screenshots of the platform on my device. Other images gotten elsewhere have their source links provided just below them.

Series backlinks:

• Telegram; A next-generation end-to-end instant messenger, or just another WhatsApp photocopy.
• Telegram; A next-generation end-to-end instant messenger, or just another WhatsApp photocopy. (Part 2)
• Telegram keeps getting better. [Review of Telegram's latest Android update. V5.5.0]

Github profile:

https://github.com/HarryHeights