Telegram announces Reactions, Spoilers, QR codes, and more in a big update

Telegram has gained a lot of traction in the past few months, especially after the Facebook/WhatsApp/Instagram outage back in October. Even though the service has some dark background (Telegram was founded by the duo Nikolai and Pavel Durov, after they bailed out of Russian social network VK due to pressure from Putin and his associates), it’s considered secure and safe.

Telegram supports end-to-end encryption, self-destructing messages, and other privacy-oriented features, and now the company has officially announced a slew of new features in Telegram’s 12th update of the year. These new features include Reactions, message translation, QR codes, hidden text (spoilers), and more. Let’s check them all out in more detail.

Telegram Reactions

Telegram had supported animated emojis since a long time ago, and now the messaging app is rebranding some of these interactive emojis as Reactions. You can use them to react to other messages by double-tapping on a message to send a thumb up, or tapping once (or holding on iOS) to choose from a list of emojis to react to.

Reactions are on by default in private chats, while in groups and channels the admins will decide whether to turn them on or not. You can also change your default quick reactions.

How to change default reaction settings on Android

• Open Telegram
• Go to Chat Settings
• Select Quick Reaction

How to change default reaction settings on iOS

• Open Telegram
• Go to Stickers and Emoji
• Select Quick Reaction

Spoilers

The hidden text functionality is well-known and used in many chat services and forums (such as Reddit for example). Now you can select the text you want to hide and choose the new “Spoiler” formatting from the pop-up menu. The selected text will then be masked and hidden away from prying eyes.

As with other such features, if you want to reveal the hidden text, you just have to tap on it.

Message Translation

According to Telegram, more than 500 million people use the service around the world. The new Message translate feature allows users to quickly tap on a message and (you’ve guessed it right) translate it to another language, right inside the app, without having to rely on Google Translate and other third-party solutions.

How to enable Message translation

• Open Telegram
• Navigate to Settings
• Tap on Language
• Toggle the “Show Translate button” option at the top

This will call a translate message button to the context menu that pops up when you tap on a message. Translation is available on all Android devices but requires iOS15 or later to work on Apple phones and tablets.

Themed QR Codes

You can now generate QR codes to show others your favorite blogs, clubs, and pages. You can add a QR code to any user that has a public username by tapping on the new QR icon next to the said username of a person and choosing the colors and pattern of the QR code.