Telegram gets auto-delete message, expiring invite link and more features

Telegram also increased group members limit to 200,000.

Lately, Telegram is seeing a massive surge in user-base, mostly the people migrating from WhatsApp. The latter, earlier this year, revised the user privacy policy that stated that the conversation and other personal details of the user who interact with a business/shop on its messenger app, will be passed on to Facebook ( & its subsidiaries) and third-party clients for marketing products on their social media platforms.

However, as the controversy started to recede on the web, WhatsApp alternatives-- Telegram and Signal, other seemed to lose appeal among users. In a bid to arrest the reverse migration, Telegram has now introduced new features including auto-delete features and more.

"Some conversations aren't meant to last forever, which is why Telegram users can delete messages for all participants in a conversation at any time, without a trace," Telegram said.
It should be noted that this feature is different from Secret Chats on Telegram. The new update will offer auto-delete in normal Telegram chats. Before tapping the send button, there will be two auto-delete options -- 24 hours or 7 days. After the expiration of the set time, the message gets deleted in the receiver's chat session.

To enable the timer on Android, tap ⋮ > Clear History then choose a duration.
On iOS, press and hold a message, tap Select > Clear Chat (top-left) > Enable Auto-Delete.

Auto-delete feature on Telegram Messenger. Credit: Telegram

Also, Telegram is bringing expiring invite links. Along with the main invite link, owners and admins can now create additional links with a limited duration, a number of uses, or both, the company said.

Another important announcement from Telegram is that it will now allow 200,000 members in a single group chat.

If a group gets close to the limit can convert into Broadcast Groups that allow unlimited members. But, there only the admins can post messages.

Also, Telegram is bringing Chat and Shortcut widgets for Android and iOS. The Chat Widget shows a preview of recent messages, while the Shortcut Widget shows only names and profile pictures. On Android, the chats and messages in the widgets will always up to date with further expansion options whereas, on iOS, it will be on an occasional basis.

New emojis coming to Telegram Messenger. Credit: Telegram

Telegram is also brought more animated emojis with the latest update to both the iOS and Android versions.

Must read | Moving to Telegram from WhatsApp? Here's how to import your old chat history

If a user finds any offensive messages or broadcast on Telegram, the company is offering an improved reporting feature with an extra option for comment to get the context of the post on why it is inappropriate and should be removed.

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