At a time when it is under fire for being the 'playground for cybercriminals', Telegram has rolled out a slew of updates on its platform including the major feature to record video as well as audio from live broadcasts, new themes for individual chats and interactive emoji with fullscreen effects.
In its previous update, Telegram had introduced the ability to have an unlimited audience for a live stream. And now with the latest update, Telegram will let admins record live streams and video chats to publish for those who missed them.
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How to record video chats and live streams on Telegram
As ever, the process to record videos is not all that difficult on Telegram.
To start a recording, tap the three-dotted lines (⋮ or ⋯) in the top-right corner to open the broadcast menu. After that choose options to record Video and Audio or Only Audio. For video recording, you have to choose an orientation - Portrait or Landscape. When the recording ends, the file will be instantly uploaded to the Saved Messages folder.
While recording, a red dot will appear next to the title of the broadcast.
Also as part of this update, Telegram has introduced eight new chat themes that users can apply to specific private chats to customize their appearance.
Each of the new themes features colorful gradient message bubbles, animated backgrounds, and new background patterns.
To set a theme for your chat, tap the Chat Header > three-dot icon > Change Colors. The theme will also be visible to your chat partners if they are using the latest version of Telegram.
Each theme comes with a day and night version and will follow the user app's day or night mode settings.
Telegram said the new themes are just the beginning and their designers are working on adding more.
Read receipts for groups
Telegram has also come up interactive emoji with fullscreen effects. Users have to send a single emoji to any chat and then tap on it to unleash a fullscreen effect. The animations and vibrations will play simultaneously on both devices if both the user and their chat partner have the chat windows open.
Lastly, the latest update includes a "read receipts" feature for groups. Users can now check to see if other members in the group have read the message. Group messages will be marked with double-check icon (✓✓) to signify the read receipt status. In small groups, users can now see which group members have read the message by selecting it.
Telegram said that the read receipts in groups are only stored for a week after the message was sent.
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