Telegram announces major updates to channels for 2024, including Thanos effect and bot reactions. Check full list

Here are the top updates announced by Telegram on its blog at the end of last year, i.e 2023.

Messaging platform Telegram has announced several new updates including the one allowing channels to now set wallpapers and enabling users to repost channel messages to their stories. It also introduced a Thanos Snap Effect, a vaporise animation effect for messages. 

A man is seen as a silhouette as he checks a mobile device whilst standing against an illuminated wall bearing Telegram's logo in this arranged photograph in London.(Bloomberg)

Here are the top updates announced by Telegram on its blog at the end of last year, i.e 2023. 

New animations to Telegram calls

Telegram announced that it has redesigned the calls by adding new animations and backgrounds that change dynamically based on the call's status, i.e ringing, active or ended.

Thanos Snap Effect

As per the Telegram blog, the Thanos vaporise animation effect is available for both iOS and Android and plays whenever any user deletes a message.

Customise channel appearance

The channels can now customise their appearance, including colours and logos for the profile cover. The users can also set an emoji status and a wallpaper visible to all those who open the channel.

When it comes to emoji status, the users have thousands of emojis to pick from. They can add anything from a cryptic hotdog to a snowman next to the channel's name. To customise channel, just open its profile and select channel settings> appearance.

Share your posts in Stories

You can now repost messages from the channels to the Stories. It basically adds a copy of the message that can be moved, resized and decorated.

Reposts support photos, files and even voice or video messages. Soon, reposts to the stories will get more features like interactive polls. 

To repost a message, just tap the Share Arrow next to the message and then tap on ‘Repost to Story’.

Premium gifts
The users can gift Telegram Premium to multiple people at once. There is a ‘Gift Premium’ section in the Settings menu. At least 10 users can be selected and gifted Telegram Premium at a go.

Custom Prizes

Another important update of Telegram pertains to channels hosting giveaways, allowing them to set a longer duration and specify additional prizes. The giveaway hosts can also toggle ‘Show Winners’ to announce the contests that won.

View Reposts

Now, the users can clearly see who watched their story and how they reacted. The channel will also get statistics to track how their stories performed. The channel admins and view the reactions to their stories and also see who reposted them. 

Photo Cutouts

As per this update, the photos from your smartphone galleries can be placed on the top of stories, and you can also remove the background from the images of your pets. 

Reactions to bots

Telegram announced that it had enabled bots to react to the messages and manage reactions, quotes and links. They can also send replies to other chats or topics.