Telegram’s popularity has grown recently, especially after WhatsApp’s recent privacy errors, so the company is taking advantage of the flow of new users making it relatively easy to import your chats from other popular messaging apps.
Specifically, the update supports imports from WhatsApp, Line and KakaoTalk – for individual and group chats. To import from WhatsApp to Telegram on Android, open the conversation in the previous application, tap the menu button> More> Export chat and select Telegram. On iOS, the process is similar, but the export function can be found by opening the Contact Info or Group Info page.
Telegram warns that apps will be imported for the current day, but chats will retain their original timestamps and be visible to all members of a conversation. The company also notes that messages do not need to take up extra space on your device, as Telegram can store messages and media in the cloud, instead of being forced to save them in its own storage.
One of the biggest obstacles with switching messaging is losing all of your old conversations, so it’s good to see that Telegram seems to have circumvented this particular warning.
The update also brings some other new features, including more control over your chat and call history on Telegram, improved audio features and new animations. You can read about them on the Telegram blog.
Did you know that we have a consumer technology newsletter? It’s called Plugged In – and you can sign it right here.
Published January 29, 2021 – 12:43 UTC