Telegram is updating its messaging app with automatic message deletion options, expired invitation links and new unlimited groups, which the company shared in a blog post. Like Signal, Telegram received a wave of new users in the confusion over WhatsApp’s privacy policy and now the company is adopting features that were already part of competitors’ apps, features that offer more security and privacy.
Automatic deletion of messages was already possible in Telegram’s encrypted secret chats, but this new update for iOS and Android adds the option to make messages disappear in any type of chat. Automatic deletion can be enabled in chats and set to delete 24 hours or seven days after sending messages. Automatic deletion will not remove all messages; if a message was sent before the feature was activated, it will remain there. Telegram’s competitors have similar features: WhatsApp launched a feature in 2020 and Signal has messages that have been disappearing since at least 2016.
Telegram is also making changes to groups that may allow for the kind of informative and immediate audio experiences that have become popular at the Clubhouse. New “broadcast groups” allow an unlimited number of members, but limit the creation of posts for group administrators so that they can, well, broadcast. On the other hand, voice chats are open to everyone in a broadcast group, and Telegram thinks the feature should be “ideal for large communities, where people can follow and catch exclusive interviews, news or just casual conversations”.
To help keep these groups unique (or increase them quickly), Telegram is adding expiring invitation links, which can be configured to expire after a certain number of uses, a certain period of time, or both. With the new invitations, group administrators should be able to better moderate whoever enters and keep the private matter a little more private.
Many users switched WhatsApp to Telegram with the concern that Facebook could read their messages. Expanding privacy features, such as automatic deletion, seems like a good way for Telegram to address these issues. But even with the new privacy options, Telegram does not yet universally offer a feature that many users expect – end-to-end encryption.
All Telegram messages are technically encrypted, but Secret Chats are the only ones that can be viewed exclusively on the participants’ devices. It is a difference that Telegram says it activates features like the new broadcast groups, but even with automatic deletion it can be an obstacle for you.
You can see the full list of new features on the Telegram blog.