Instant messaging app, Telegram celebrated 700 million active users with the launch of the premium version of its service.
By subscribing to Telegram Premium for $4,99 or R80, given today’s currency exchange, users will have access to new features, including doubled limits on content within the app, bigger file uploads, faster downloads, and exclusive stickers and reactions, among other features.
Here’s how each of the premium features will work:
Uploads
Regular Telegram users can upload large files and media, up to 2 GB in size. At the same time, Premium subscribers will now be able to send 4 GB files. This will include rich media like photos, videos, and audio, in lossless quality, as well as large documents and other files.
Faster Downloads
Premium subscribers can download media and files at the fastest possible speed. Of course, this is also depending on your internet connectivity speed.
Doubled Limits
Premium users can also follow up to 1000 channels, create up to 20 chat folders with up to 200 chats each, and pin ten chats on the main home screen.
Voice-to-Text
Premium Telegram users can also convert voice messages to text with the ability to rate transcriptions to help improve the function.
Chat Management
Telegram Premium will also allow users to change default chat folders, so the app always opens on a custom folder like opening within unread messages only.
Premium Badges
Much like a blue tick verification that will come with a subscription to Twitter’s premium service in the future, Telegram Premium users will receive a special badge that appears next to their name in the chat list, chat headers, and member lists in groups.
Is it worth R80?
With the Meta-owned rival app, WhatsApp, ramping up security tools and enhancing engagement features, many of the new features from Telegram Premium might not be necessary for the everyday user but better for those running business operations and large groups on the platform.
Following more channels and creating larger groups, a new Telegram feature will be useful for business owners.
However, increases in the size of file uploads won’t be a reason to purchase Telegram premium, as even larger file sizes can be shared through a Google Drive link, for example, sidestepping the R80 fee.
Telegram rose in popularity amid security concerns over the Meta-owned rival app, WhatsApp. Despite the controversy, WhatsApp showed no signs of slowing growth, with statistics platform, Statista measuring users at 1.2 billion as of the first quarter of 2022 - the biggest of all instant messenger apps used globally.
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