Telegram seems to be enjoying itself since WhatsApp announced its new privacy policy that has resulted into weeks long backlash but unleashed many opportunities other apps like Telegram and Signal. Telegram has been unveiling notifications since the outset of the WhatsApp crisis. Perhaps the new feature is the most exciting one yet.
The new Telegram feature allows users import chats from other messaging apps, this way users cannot be worried about losing their chats in the situation that they have to delete their accounts on another messaging platform.
The apps that users can import chats from are only 3, for now, that is Facebook-owned app WhatsApp, Line and Kakao Talk. The new feature arrived on iOS with version 7.4 and is also available on Android. Users can now pick up from where they left off on the listed applications by simply importing chats from there to the latest 7.4 Telegram version.
How the new Telegram feature works on Android and iOS
All this feature requires is that the owner of the chat from which messages are being imported has a Telegram account too. To import chats from WhatsApp to Telegram on iOS, open the conversation you are interested in. Tap the contact or group name from the top of the chat to open its info screen. After that, the ‘Export chat’ option opens the iOS share sheet, where you’ll see the option to select Telegram. You can now just pick a Telegram chat to import the messages into.
On Android, Telegram notes that you can use the new Telegram feature by simply tapping the three-dot button on the top right of a chat, and then select “More”. It’s there that one will see the ‘Export chat’ option and then tap. The share sheet will pop up and the option to share to Telegram will appear.
This feature imports chats from groups as well. All imported chats will have a small “imported label” on them showing when they were originally sent and when they were brought into Telegram.
Something to look out for is the chats appear in the order they are imported rather than in the order they were sent on the other messaging app you are importing from. In case you are low on space or just don’t want to import media files, there’s that option too. Users can choose to import only messages or both messages and media files.
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Telegram has taken advantage of WhatsApp’s recent backlash to unveil a number of features since it became one of the preferred alternatives to the app after it announced an upcoming update to its privacy policy. The popular messaging app that hasn’t left tech headlines since then has put in the effort to explain to users what the update means, from sharing blogs to posting on its status.
Read more: WhatsApp posts status to reassure users about new privacy update.
Another new Telegram feature to look out for is the voice chat feature update. It allows users to turn groups into voice chat rooms. For Android users, this feature lets users exit the app and still be on the group voice chat.
Many users have moved on and said that this is not the first time they worry that their private data could be at risk. It looks like many are not willing to take any chances and have decided to go with the next good thing.
This explains why Telegram now has 5oo million users globally. It might take a while for WhatsApp to recover from this crisis, hopefully, when it finally does it will still have some loyal customers still using the app.