Telegram, the popular messaging app, has now crossed over 700 million users worldwide, and to celebrate they’re… launching a new subscription service. Yes, you read that right, Telegram Premium is now a thing.
According to Telegram, this new subscription service will help them continue development of the app, and by forking out a monthly fee you’ll also be able to access a number of additional features. It won’t be cheap though, as for Android users it’s priced at RM22.99 per month while iOS users will need to pay RM22.90 per month.
That kind of begs the question though: what exactly will you be getting with Telegram Premium compared to regular ol’ Telegram?
No ads
Well for starters, perhaps the biggest reason you might want to switch to Telegram Premium is that there will be no more advertisements in the app. Right now, you may get ‘sponsored messages’ popping up in some large, public one-to-many channels. These will no longer appear for those of you on Telegram Premium.
Larger file upload sizes
Right now, anyone can upload files and media up to 2GB in size, with unlimited storage in Telegram Cloud. Those who pay for Telegram Premium though will be able to send files up to 4GB in size. It should be noted though that if you’re talking to someone with Telegram Premium and they send you a file that’s 4GB in size, you’ll still be able to download it even if you don’t have Telegram Premium yourself.
Faster file downloads
With up to 4GB per file now, you might be wondering just how long it’ll take to download each file. Well, according to Telegram, those using their subscription service can now download media files at the fastest possible speed with the only bottleneck apparently being your network.
Double limits
While regular Telegram users are limited to up to 500 channels and groups, Telegram Premium subscribers will be able to join up to 1,000 channels and groups, double that of regular users. In fact, Telegram says that their Premium users will have double limits for almost everything: twice as many pinned chats, twice as many public links, twice as many chat folders, and perhaps most importantly twice as many favourite stickers. You’ll even be able to write a longer bio for your profile.
Voice-to-text messages
If you’re texting someone and they end up replying with a voice message, there are times when it’s just a little bit inconvenient to play it out loud. Well, Telegram Premium will come with a new feature that allows you to convert voice messages to text for when you’d prefer to read them. You can also rate the transcriptions to help Telegram improve them.
Stickers, reactions and animated profile pictures
Telegram Premium users will now get dozens of new stickers with full screen animations, which can be seen by all users regardless of their Premium status. These unique new stickers will be updated monthly by Telegram too. Premium users get over 10 new emojis to use as message reactions, along with animated profile pictures too.
On top of that, you’ll also get a special badge that appears next to your name in the chat list, chat headers and group members lists to show others that you’re helping support Telegram. For even more personalisation, you can choose from one of three new premium Telegram app icons too.
If you want to check out Telegram Premium for yourself, you can subscribe to it in the Telegram app itself from now onwards.
