Telegram doubles down on privacy and anonymous posting with new update
What you need to know
- Telegram has rolled out a slew of updates that focus on privacy.
- You can now restrict anyone from saving content and forwarding messages in your groups and channels.
- The update also allows you to delete messages from specific dates.
Telegram has picked up a bevy of new features that boost privacy and give users more control over their connected devices. And as usual, the latest update includes a ton of new capabilities.
On the privacy front, the messaging app now lets group and channel owners limit the ability of others to forward, screengrab, or save their content. The goal is to protect your posts from unwanted audiences. To do that, you can go to the group settings and turn on the "Restrict saving content" option.
Another nifty feature is the ability to delete messages by date. However, this option is available only in one-on-one conversations, and you can select a specific date range from which to clear chat history.
The update also lets you post anonymously in public groups. With Telegram's anonymity feature, you can post as a channel in public groups. If you're managing multiple channels, you can select any of them and Telegram will append the name and photo of that channel to any messages you post.
Telegram has also added a clever way for you to log in via phone call. When you turn on this feature, you'll be asked to identify the last several digits of the phone number from which the call is being made.
For multi-device management, the app has added a new button in the devices menu to link a desktop computer. There's an option as well to automatically log out inactive devices after a certain period.
Finally, the service has expanded its chat themes to Android phones. Unveiled in September, these themes were previously available only on iOS. Click here for a detailed tutorial on how to change your Telegram theme.
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Jay Bonggolto always keeps a nose for news. He has been writing about consumer tech and apps for as long as he can remember, and he has used a variety of Android phones since falling in love with Jelly Bean. Send him a direct message via Twitter or LinkedIn.