The Telegram 8.4 beta has just hit Android a few days ago, and now, the new version of one of the most feature-packed messengers is already rolling out in stable to everyone. Telegram 8.4 takes a few cues from other platforms and is bringing support for spoiler text styling, quick emoji reactions, translations, and more animated emoji, as the company has shared in a blog post.
As we already covered extensively, spoiler styling will allow you to hide certain parts of your message from view until tapped. This will make it easier to talk about the fact that in the new Spiderman film, Peter Parker and ████████████. Yes, that actually happened. Text can be hidden from view by selecting it before sending and then applying the “Spoiler” styling in the pop-up menu. You and recipients will only be able to see it once you tap the obfuscated text.
As for emoji reactions, you’ll be able to simply double-tap a message to send a thumbs-up — handy for quickly acknowledging that you’ve received some information. It’s possible to change your default reaction in Telegram’s settings, though. For more reactions like 😁 🎉 😱 🔥 👎, you need to tap the message in question once and pick what you want to send. In groups and channels, admins can control which reactions (if any) are allowed.
Telegram isn’t only used as a messenger to stay in contact with close peers. Many users are also parts of huge channels and international public groups, and that’s where translations could come in handy. Telegram 8.4 adds that feature, which you can activate in Settings -> Language. This will give you a translate button whenever you come across foreign text in Telegram. You can specify which languages you’re fluent in if you don’t need translations everywhere.
Telegram 8.4 also adds a few purely fun things. You can enjoy new themed QR codes that can be shared by anyone with a public username or a public group or channel. There are a few new animated emoji, too. When you send a message consisting of nothing but one of the following emoji, you’ll get to enjoy the new effect: 🔥 😁 🤩 😢 😭 😱 ❄️. Mac users are in for some redesigned context menus.
You can download Telegram version 8.4 on the Play Store.
