Foreword
In December 2022, Telegram Info editorial staff traditionally summed up the results of the year. This time, the poll was more extensive: instead of the usual worst and best innovations, subscribers were asked to choose the best and worst free innovation, and the same with the features available to users with Telegram Premium.
Forums and Topics
The first most popular feature is turning chats into forums. It allows you to create separate chats within the main group to discuss individual topics.
The ability to divide the general chat into topics was created specifically to make discussions in large groups more convenient.
Despite the great idea, the implementation is still a bit lame. Because of the new feature’s shortcomings, it was ranked fourth on the 2022 Worst Features top list.
Users don’t feel comfortable using tops because of the extra “clicks” to perform old actions. A good solution would be to put a separate topic in the chat list.
In many ways the chat has remained unified, not enough tools for the administrators of the chat to each individual topic:
- Slow mode
- Permission for admins
- Individual administrators
- Restrictions for users
- Deleting all messages from one user
- Automatic deletion of messages
Improved Photo Editor
The photo editor updated in December was very warmly received by the public. Telegram’s photo editor has always been known for its advancement compared to editors in other messengers, but in October 2022 Pavel Durov announced a contest to improve the experience of editing images in the app. Telegram awarded winners and in the next update the development team implemented a media editor in the apps.
A large number of drawing tools allow you to comfortably process images, videos, and gifs before sending, which makes the innovation one of the most favorite among users.
Flexible cache management
Working with cache has always been a big problem with Telegram. The function often didn’t work, and Telegram took up more and more space on the device. But towards the end of the year, Telegram came up with a more powerful tool to clean it up. Users can now individually set up automatic deletion of unwanted media files in each of the categories: private messages, groups, and channels, as well as configure exceptions for individual chats.
Platform Fragment
In August 2022, Telegram took away the usernames of a large number of channels that the messenger deemed inactive, infuriating a huge number of users.
In November, users were able to buy and sell usernames in the messenger. The negative factor was that Telegram put up for sale the usernames it had taken away in the summer. That is why more than half of the users who voted considered this innovation the worst for 2022.
Later in December, the Fragment platform made it possible to buy a virtual number, which can be used to register a Telegram account.
This innovation is considered the worst by 28% of those who voted
Telegram Premium
In the five months of Telegram Premium’s existence, it has been acquired more than one million times, which, according to Pavel Durov, can be called “one of the most successful examples of paid subscriptions in social networks.
Telegram Premium gives more and more features with every Telegram update, and the numbers show that the innovation brings substantial revenue to the messenger’s team, which, according to Pavel Durov, laid the foundation for further financial growth of Telegram in 2023.
36% of votes that this is the worst feature and only 18% that it is the best.
The results of voting for the best and worst innovation available to everyone in Telegram for 2022.
Downloading files up to 4 GB
Starting in July 2020, all users can download media files up to two gigabytes in size.
With a Telegram Premium subscription, users can now send files up to four gigabytes in size. This allows you to share an entire movie or a very large archive without having to split them up.
Emoji in reactions
The second best premium Telegram innovation of 2022 was the custom emoji in messages and reactions.
And no wonder, because the August update of the messenger brought users a whole platform where everyone can create their own emotions. You can express your emotions through a new kind of emoji in messages, in descriptions of photos or videos, and thanks to the September update, you can also express them in reactions.
Especially pleasing are the regular updates with new emoji sets from Telegram artists.
Faster download speed
premium users received the highest priority when downloading files. 37% of users appreciated this innovation
Doubled limits
Almost all limits in Telegram have doubled. Premium subscribers can create up to 20 folders of 200 chats each, save up to 400 gifs, pin up to ten chats and ten favorite stickers. You can also subscribe to 1000 channels at once and connect four accounts. 35% of users noted this innovation
Voice recognition
The best innovation for Telegram Premium subscribers in 2022 was voice and video message recognition. The feature has become popular because it allows users to save time listening to long voice or video messages and learn the meaning of incoming messages even if the recipient has no chance to listen to them immediately.
Fullscreen animations
A quarter of those who voted called full-screen animations the worst upgrade among premium features. As with the previous point, such an explosive number of animations annoys many, although the benefit is not often seen in chat rooms.
Blocking of receiving voice messages
In the summer, Telegram added the ability to prevent users from sending voice messages. At the same time, 21% of those who voted called it the worst innovation and only 15% the best.
Distinctive subscriber badge
The developers of the messenger decided that a Telegram Premium subscriber must stand out among ordinary users and therefore provided him with a special star icon. The icon will be located next to the subscriber’s name. 20% of those who voted considered this innovation the worst.
Exclusive app icons.
The ability to change messenger icons appeared a few years ago. Now Telegram Premium subscribers have access to an exclusive set of as many as three new icons: a star, a night sky, and a jet paper airplane. 19% of those who voted considered this feature to be the worst
Always active video avatars
The tendency to animate everything in a row is the scourge of Telegram. A not insignificant number of users have complained about the rapidly growing number of unnecessary non-disabling animations in the Telegram app.
This includes a feature that should have been buried back in the days of the forums – the avatar animation on all screens. It is inconvenient, distracting all the time, and simply does not allow the application to work properly on many devices.
What’s in store for us this year?
Pavel Durov wrote that Telegram’s next step is to create a set of decentralized tools, including non-custodial wallets and decentralized exchanges. This has already been implemented in the form of third-party sites and bots, and this year could already come in the form of some kind of native tools, allowing millions of people to access blockchain solutions right inside the messenger.