Pavel Durov announces NFT support, new tools to report content for Telegram

Telegram app update: Telegram founder Pavel Durov has announced new features coming to the app. Among the most noteworthy features coming to the Telegram app are support for Non-Fungible Tokens or NFTs and better content moderation tools. These new features come at a time when Telegram has come under fire globally for promoting organised crime activity on its platform.

“Gifts are a great way to congratulate your loved ones on important events. Gifts are a great way to congratulate your loved ones on important events. Gift recipients can choose to display them on their profiles or sell them for Stars,” the Telegram founder wrote in a post on his official Telegram channel.

“Later this year we’ll introduce the ability to convert these limited-edition gifts into TON-based NFTs. Users will then be able to auction and trade these tokenized gifts outside Telegram, with ownership recorded on the blockchain,” he added.

What's new in the Telegram app?

Gifts

Telegram has announced that now users can send 'Gift' to each other on the platform. These gifts are displayed with animated artwork and custom messages and can be turned into stars, which in turn, can be used for in-app purchases.

Telegram says that users can either display the received gift in the Gifts tab of their profiles or discard it and get some of its Stars to spend elsewhere.

How to use: Open the profile of the receiver of the gift > Tap the three dots menu on the top > tap Send a Gift option > Add a custom message > Send.

Better content reporting interface

Telegram has also updated its interface to report problematic content. The company says that the reporting menu has been expanded with more detailed category options such as Illegal Goods, Personal Data, Terrorism, Copyright and Scam or Spam to name a few.

Furthermore, the company says that the list of reporting reasons is now dynamically updated from the company's servers, which allows it to suggest the most relevant reporting reasons in real-time.

Redesigned Video Chats on iOS

Lastly, the company has also redesigned its interface for video chats on iOS 'to increase performance and improve battery life'.

"This also means that devices now stay dramatically cooler on long calls — even with multiple video feeds from dozens of participants," the company wrote in its post.