Telegram launches premium tier

Telegram, which is one of the top-5 downloaded apps in the world and has already reached 700 million monthly active users, has launched Telegram Premium. Founder Pavel Durov had announced about 2 weeks ago that Premium is coming this month.

Telegram Premium is a subscription that offers exclusive features for the popular app’s users. Users subscribing to the premium tier will be able to unlock doubled limits, 4 GB file uploads, faster downloads, exclusive stickers and reactions, improved chat management, as well as all the existing features. 

“The contributions of premium subscribers will help improve and expand the app for decades to come, while Telegram will remain free, independent and uphold its users-first values, redefining how a tech company should operate,” the company said in a blog post announcing the premium tier. 

Telegram Premium Price & Features

Telegram didn’t disclose the price for Premium in the blog post but the monthly subscription appears to cost anywhere between $4.99 – $6. 

Underlining that all the existing features will remain completely free, Telegram said that some features that come with Telegram Premium will also be offered to non-premium users. Here are the additional features that come with Telegram Premium…

4G Uploads

Currently, any user can upload large files and media of up to 2GB each. With Telegram Premium, subscribers will now be able to send 4GB files – enough space for 4 hours of 1080p video or 18 days of high-quality audio. Telegram has announced that all users will be able to download these extra large documents regardless of whether they subscribe to Telegram Premium or not.

Faster Downloads

Telegram also said that premium subscribers will be able to download media and files at the fastest possible speed. “You can access everything in your unlimited cloud storage as fast as your network can keep up,” the company added. 

Doubled Limits

Users who purchase the premium subscription tier will also be able to follow up to 1000 channels, create up to 20 chat folders each containing up to 200 chats each, add a fourth account to any Telegram app, pin 10 chats in the main list, save up to 10 favorite stickers, write longer bio and include a link in it, add more characters to media captions. Telegram Premium will also allow its users to respond to any message with up to 400 favorite GIFs and to reserve up to 20 public t.me links.  

Voice-to-Text

Telegram Premium also supports voice messages that allows users to convert voice messages to text. Users will also be able to rate transcriptions to help improve the feature.  

Unique Stickers

Telegram Premium includes a premium sticker collection which will be updated monthly by the app’s artists. Premium users will be able to send full-screen animations in any chat and they will be visible for all users. Users can find premium stickers from all their packs in a dedicated section of the sticker panel, below ‘Recently Used’.

Unique Reactions 

Premium users can now also access more than 10 new emoji and favorites to reach to messages. 

Chat Management

Telegram Premium also includes new tools to organize their chat list, like changing their default chat folder  so the app always opens in a custom folder or, say, Unread instead of All Chats. Additionally, Premium users can enable a setting in Privacy and Security to automatically archive and mute new chats, helping organize even the busiest chat lists.

Animated Profile Pictures

Telegram said that the profile videos of premium users will animate for everyone throughout the app, including in chats and the chat list. 

Premium Badges & Premium App Icons

All premium users get a special badge that appears next to their name in the chat list, chat headers, and member lists in groups – showing that they help support Telegram and are part of the club that receives exclusive features first. 

Premium users can also add new app icons to their Home Screen to better personalize their smartphone. They can choose from a premium star, night sky, or turbo-plane.

No Ads in Public Channels

To monetize the app, Telegram is showing Sponsored Posts in public groups in some countries. The company announced that these ads will no longer appear to Telegram Premium subscribers.

New Free Features for All Users

Alongside the launch of Premium, Telegram has also announced some free features for all users. 

+ Join requests for public groups

+ Verification badges in chats

+ Ability to include a photo or video in “What can this bot do?” section

+ Improved chat previews on Android

+ Automatic saving to Gallery on Android

+ Improved external sharing on iOS

+ Animated profile picture creator on macOS