What you need to know
- Telegram is finally adding video-calling support to its app.
- The company says that this is an "alpha" with more updates coming down the line to improve the experience.
- Group video calling is scheduled to make an appearance later this year.
Telegram today announced an update to its Android app, enabling video calls. As we live in a world where we spend more time apart than together, connecting whether through Zoom, Meet, or Duo has been on most people's top priorities. Telegram is now joining the list of messaging apps that offer video-calling as well (in 2020, that's almost all of them).
The company says that this is an "alpha" version, a bit of a pre-emptive mea culpa for any issues users might face with this experience. It's also going to be Android only at launch, with the company blaming an App Store approval process for the delay on its iOS app.
If you've used video-calling for any other social media platform on Android, it'll work very much the same on Telegram. Calls can be made from the messaging or profile screens, culture ad picture is present, and Telegram has added support for its end-to-end encryption used in calls and secret chats. In the future, Telegram plans to add group video calling support. For now, it's just an alpha to soothe your socially distanced heart.
With this update, Telegram also added new animated emoji including a cake, a peach, an aubergine, several cat faces, and devil horns. Do with that what you will.
Telegram Messenger
If your friends are on this service, it's one of the most gorgeously designed and secure messaging apps you can try. With video calling added, it's now closing the gap between itself and WhatsApp.
