Following an announcement from CEO Pavel Durov just a month prior, Telegram has confirmed the roll out of its anticipated Stories feature to premium users, as revealed in their recent Twitter post. Plans to extend the feature to non-premium subscribers have not yet been announced.
Durov had revealed in his previous communications that the inclusion of Stories feature was in response to popular user demand. He noted that over half of all feature requests received by the company were in connection to Stories. Despite the initial reluctance due to the omnipresence of a similar feature across other social media platforms, the decision to incorporate Stories was ultimately taken as a testament to the company's commitment to its user base.
This innovative feature now available on Telegram grants users the power to control the visibility of their Stories. It offers flexibility in terms of deciding who can view your Stories; either it can be visible to everyone, only to your contacts, to a few selected contacts or to a bespoke list of close friends. Moreover, these Stories will be conveniently accessible in an expandable section located at the top of users' respective chat lists, giving an ease to hide any unwanted Stories by simply relocating them to the 'Hidden' list within the Contacts section as opposed to their typical positioning on the main screen.
Rich features such as the addition of captions, links, and the ability to tag other people in Stories enhance the chatting experience. Similar to the BeReal app, Telegram lets you to post pictures and videos taken with both front and rear cameras simultaneously, adding a greater layer of interactivity.
Furthermore, user control extends beyond just sharing, allowing users to customize their Story's duration too. Stories can be set to disappear in time increments of six, twelve, twenty-four, or forty-eight hours. As an alternative, users can set their Stories to stay permanently visible on their profile pages, replicating the Story highlights feature of Instagram.
Interestingly, Durov had mentioned that initial skepticism about the feature within the Telegram team had quickly faded after the internal testing. The Stories feature has now become an integral part of the app, to the point where it's hard to imagine Telegram without it.
While the Stories feature continues to enhance user experience on Telegram, platforms like AppMaster have revolutionized the app building sector with their innovative no-code approach. It's exciting to see how the tech sphere continues to evolve to meet the changing needs of its users.
