Calling each other is now the past, Messengers are the new cool. More than 150 billion messages are exchanged every day. There are many messengers available today, but to choose the one which outperforms the others can be a difficult task. In this article, we will list 27 features of Telegram that make it one of the best messenger.

This article is a bit long, so grab a bowl of munchies and enjoy the post.

1. Cross Platform Support

One of the best feature of Telegram that other messengers turn a blind eye to is that Telegram support every major platform from Android to iOS, Windows Phone, Windows, Mac, Web, Linux etc. All app on every platform is updated regularly.

2. Cloud Backup

Telegram is a cloud-based messaging app. All messages sent through Telegram are stored on its cloud. Chats remain synchronized across all your devices. You can choose to self-destruct your account if you don’t log in to your account for a particular period of time.

3. Secret Chats

Telegram provides a feature known as ‘Secret Chat’ which according to them is the most secure way to communicate. The messages sent through Secret Chat are end to end encrypted. These messages are not stored on Telegram servers. You can set a self-destruct timing for your messages. Secret chat doesn’t allow the other person to take a screenshot of your chat nor does it allow message forwarding.

4.Pin Message

How many times has it happened that an important message is posted on a group and you miss it as the chat gets crowded with follow up messages Pin message lets the admins pin important message at the top. It also gives an option to notify every member if they have muted the group.

5. Supergroups

Telegram gives you the freedom to converse in a group with up to 5000 members. Supergroups can be a great alternative to forums. Converting a normal group to supergroup is very easy. Go to Group’s info > Tap on the three dots in the upper right corner > Select Convert to supergroup. It also lets you create a custom link which you can share to let others join your group. Bots like Group Butler let you control groups and add more productivity.

6. Bots

Telegram is one of the first messengers to introduce bots on its platform. The bot can teach, play, search, broadcast, remind, connect, integrate with other services, or even pass commands to the Internet of Things. You can find many interesting bot options on Storebot. You can also create your own bot with the help of BotFather and Manybot.

7. Channels

Channels are a great way to broadcast your message to a large audience. Creating a channel is as easy as creating a group. Every message posted on a channel has view counter and an individual shareable link. You can increase your channel audience by submitting the channel on Tchannels.

8. Telegram Stickers

Stickers are a great alternative to emojis. Stickers on Telegram are of high quality made by professionals. You can create your own sticker pack or use from the ones created by Telegram. Trending stickers can be found on sticker panel or Settings > Stickers > Trending Stickers.

9. Inline Bots

Inline bots are simply bots that you can use in any of your chats, groups, and channels.  You can use these bots without leaving the chat. To see them in action, simply type one of their @usernames in the message field in any chat, then type some keywords. @gif, @vid, @pic, @bing, @wiki and @imdb are some of the inline bots you can try.

10. GIFs

Another great feature to express more with fewer words. GIFs on Telegram are 20x faster and use 95% less disk space thanks to the encoding done in mpeg4 format. To send GIFs, type @gif<space>search term and select the GIF of your choice. Tap on GIFs in chats (long tap on iOS) and ‘Save’ to add them to the GIF tab. You can also create your own GIFs by simply recording a video in Telegram and tapping the “mute” button to share it as a GIF.

11. Edit Messages

Typos are yesterday. Welcome to edit messages. Now you don’t have to use ‘*message‘ whenever you do typos. Telegram lets you edit sent messages. Edited messages will contain a small ‘edited’ label at the end of the message so that it is easy to distinguish edited and non-edited message. Messages sent in last 48 hours can be edited.

12. Unsend Message

How many times has it happened that you send someone an inappropriate message by mistake and later had to explain to them that it was by mistake.  To save you from such situations, Telegram introduced Unsend message option. You can unsend any weird messages you shared within the last 48 hours. The unsend message works in groups as well as personal chat.

 13. Picture-In-Picture

Want to continue chatting while watching a YouTube video? Picture-In-Picture lets you chat and watch YouTube videos at the same time. It shrinks the screen to a smaller size which you can drag anywhere.  As of now only Youtube and Vimeo links work with Picture-in-Picture.

14. Games

Last year Telegram pushed the boundaries further by launching a bot-powered Gaming Platform on Telegram. Games with sound and graphics can be played inside the app. New and interesting games can be found on @gamee. You can also @gamee bot inline in any group to compete with your friends. All your high scores are saved across all your chats.

 15. Pin Chats

With personal chats, channels, and bots your chat screen can become a bit messy. Scrolling all the way down just to find the chat can be a painful job. With Pin Chats, important chats can be pinned at the top. The limitation of pinned chats as of now is 5.

16. Instant View

Remember the Instant Article by Facebook? Instant View works the same way with zero page load time. As of now, articles from Medium, TechCrunch, and Telegraph work with Instant View with a promise to add more in the future.

17. Telegraph

You own a channel and don’t want to post long messages. Telegraph, a publishing tool from Telegram that lets you create richly formatted posts with photos and all sorts of embedded stuff. All articles created using Telegraph get Instant View option on Telegram.

18. IFTTT Integration

With IFTTT integration, you can use your Telegram account to automate things. You can control other services via Telegram, or receive notifications and content like photos and videos when they do something. Popular services that work with IFTTT are Twitter, Instagram, Gmail, Spotify, Pinterest, Philips Hue, Nest etc.  Examples of what you can do using IFTTT integration are:

19.  Usernames

Want to have a conversation with someone but don’t trust them enough to share your phone number? Telegram usernames allow you to connect with new people without sharing your number. You can also share t.me/username link to let other connect with you. To set your username, head over to Settings section of Telegram and type the username of your choice below your phone number.

20. Music Player

Telegram comes with a beautiful music player which can replace your native music player. Telegram Music Player can perform all functions that a regular music player is able to do. Channels like Daily Music and The Hits and Bots like VK Music Bot can be used to search for songs. (Thank me later).

21. Types of File

Name the file extension and you can send that file on Telegram. Files up to the size of 1.5GB can be sent using Telegram. Telegram can also be used to download Movies and TV shows. Check iMediaShare channel for movies and TV shows in HD quality

22. Theme Support

This year telegram began the new year by introducing a big update to the Desktop version. With that update, support for custom themes was introduced. Themes created by users can be applied to make the app look just the way you like. Check @themes for awesome themes made by the community. Theme support for Andriod app is on its way as quoted in this blog post.

23. Cloud Storage

With Telegram, you get a personal unlimited cloud storage for free. This is nothing but a chat with yourself which you can use to save important files. You can also forward files from other chats to save them for future use. There is no limit on the GBs of files that you can save.

24. Image Editor and Masks

Telegram comes with a built-in Image editor. All basic image editing can be done before sending a picture. Image editing options in this app consist of crop, image enhancement, exposure control, contrast control, warmth, and saturation. Along with these features drawing and writing on a picture, stickers and masks are also present. Masks on Telegram works just like the Snapchat filters. Applying Mask is very easy. To apply just choose a mask, and it will be automatically positioned in the right place.

25. Markdown Support

The last but not the least is the markdown support. I know Markdown support is available in other messaging apps also. But what makes it special here is that you don’t have to sacrifice *writing* in this style.  To see the markdown option, select the text and tap on the 3 dots and then select the markdown option according to your preference.

26. Hide Last Seen for Particular Users

There might be some annoying people in your contact list with whom you don’t want to share your last seen. In Telegram, you can select individual contacts with whom you don’t want to share your last seen. You can set this option in Settings > Privacy and Security > Last seen.

27. Enable Fingerprint and Passcode Lock

Don’t want others to open Telegram without your permission? Add a passcode lock to your Telegram account. If your device has a fingerprint scanner then that can also be used to open the app.  Passcode lock can be found in Settings > Privacy and Security > Passcode Lock.

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