#TechBytes: 5 new features you must try on Telegram
Despite serving a much smaller user base than WhatsApp, Russian messaging platform Telegram is not giving up on its mission. The service has long focused on delivering user-demanded capabilities, and now, in another step in this direction, it is rolling out a major update, introducing an enhanced file transfer limit and a lot more. Let's take a look at the new features.
Send files with sizes up to 2GB
With the all-new iteration (v6.3), Telegram is bringing support for sending larger files. Previously, the messaging service allowed users to send a file with a maximum size of 1.5GB, but now, that has been extended to 2GB. For reference, WhatsApp still caps media file transfers at 16MB per file and document transfers at 100MB, which is pretty bizarre.
Set a profile video for your account
The next big change is the option to set a 'profile video' instead of a standard profile picture. You can upload a video or shoot a new one and then choose its cover image, a frame from the clip, to set the profile video. The cover image will be shown in the conversation/contact lists, while the video will play when your profile is opened.
Options to soften skin, enhance brightness in media editor
People often use third-party apps to edit their photos and videos before sending them to their contacts. Telegram wants to remove this layer, and for that, it is upgrading its inbuilt media editor with new options to soften skin and alter the brightness of photos. For videos, it is adding cropping and rotating options, but that is only available on Android at present.
Automatically archive messages from unknown contacts
To help avoid annoying spammers or someone you do not want to talk to, Telegram is bringing the option to automatically archive and mute messages from people who are not included in your contacts. The capability has been confirmed and should become available in the Privacy and Security settings of the messaging service in the coming days.
Other minor but notable tweaks
Among other things, Telegram has modified the Nearby People feature to show the distance between the user and detected contacts. Then, the music player of the app has been modified with new buttons and an expanding tracklist; group stats have been added, with smaller thumbnail previews of photos and videos appearing in the conversation list.
