The messaging app, Telegram, has been updated to version 5.8, bringing with it features to add contacts more easily, create local groups, and the option for group and channel admins to transfer ownership rights to someone else if you ever get tired of all that responsibility. For those on iOS, Telegram X became the official Telegram client minus its slick logo - some users decided not to upgrade because they liked the black logo. With this update, iOS users can change the Telegram logo to the one used in Telegram X.
Once you’ve updated Telegram, adding contacts should be a bit easier. When you’re messaged by a non-contact, you’ll get an option at the top of the screen to add them to your contacts, even if you don’t know their phone number. If you’d rather stop the conversation, there’s also a block button which will stop the user from contacting you again.
If you’re near someone that you want to add in Telegram, both contacts can now open the People Nearby menu (Contacts > Add People Nearby) and quickly exchange contact information. The feature is great if you need to add several people all at once, rather than swapping phone numbers individually you can see the entire list of people and add them quickly.
Another new feature is local groups. Once one has been created, anyone in the vicinity can see the group in the People Nearby section. Telegram is targeting this feature at people visiting venues, attending events, or students in dormitories or an apartment building, but really anyone can put it to any creative use they can think of.
If you’ve ever created a channel or group on Telegram but later decided that you’re not interested in maintaining the community anymore, there really was no good way to pass ownership of the group on to someone else. In this update, however, there’s a new Transfer Group Ownership button that you can access from the admin settings allowing you to transfer ownership to someone else.
Some other changes include improvements to notification exceptions, the addition of Siri shortcuts to open chats, and the revamped theme picker on iOS will let you see different themes before you apply them, you can also change the Telegram icons on iOS too.
The new update has already been pushed out on Android and iOS so be sure to check for and apply the update if you’ve not done so already.
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