TL;DR
- Telegram has announced several handy features in its latest update.
- These features include making group/channel content private and deleting messages by date/date range.
Telegram has a bunch of handy features that WhatsApp lacks, such as multi-device support that includes multiple phones, channels for large communities, and support for multiple numbers within the same app.
The messaging service is gaining even more features this week, as Telegram has announced some additions in a blog post. For starters, it’s now offering a so-called Private Content option for groups and channels. This will allow group/channel owners to restrict forwarding, screenshots, and media saving in a bid to keep group or channel content private.
Another handy privacy feature is the new ability to delete messages by date. This applies to individual chats and lets you clear the chat history for a given day or date range.
What else was announced?
Moving to the multi-device category, Telegram has now added a button in the devices menu to let you quickly link a desktop or laptop to your account via QR code. It’s also added a setting that automatically logs you out of inactive devices after a given time period (from a week all the way to six months).
Finally, the app now lets you post as a channel in public groups and gives you the ability to log in via a call (using the last few digits of the calling number as a verification code).
This is just the latest update we’ve seen from Telegram in 2021, with previous updates this year bringing live streams, screen sharing, unlimited voice chats, auto-deleting messages, and video player improvements. So here’s hoping the WhatsApp team is taking notes and grabs some of these features in the new year.
