Telegram 4.0 adds video messages and much more

In April, we reported that a beta version of the popular Telegram messaging app had added a way for users to send short video messages to others. Now that feature is coming out of beta with the newly launched Telegram 4.0 update, along with a bunch of other new additions.

The new video message mode is enabled by going to any Telegram chat. Then you tap on the microphone icon to switch to the app’s camera mode. Then you tap and hold onto the camera icon to record your video message, which can be up to one minute long. To send it, just release the recording button. Telegram claims that sending these videos are quick because the app actually compresses the clip even as it is being recorded. When you get a video message from someone else, you can view it while you are also checking out all of your text messages by watching it in a picture-in-picture window.

Another one of the new features in Telegram 4.0 is called Telescope, which allows user to record a video message and then post it outside of the app to other platforms. Basically, when you decide to post a video message to a public channel within Telegram, it will also be uploaded to the Telescope hosting platform. It automatically creates a URL so that the video can be posted and viewed without the need to use a Telegram app or account.

The rise of bots in messaging services is growing by leaps and bounds, and the new 4.0 version of Telegram is embracing that trend with its new Bot Payments feature. It’s basically works like it sounds; you can now pay directly in messages to any bots who offer those kinds of features and services. If your payment account uses two-step verification, bot payments will only take two taps to work.

Finally, Telegram 4.0 adds the Instant View Platform feature. This will allow any website to use a template so that it can access the company’s Instant View format, which is supposed to make web pages easier to read when they are viewed in the Telegram app.