Telegram adds new video playback, quality controls, and other features

Telegram has announced a slew of new features, aimed at enhancing the user experience, coming to the Android and iOS apps with the new version 11.3.0. The WhatsApp rival has added under-the-hood improvements to make video loading faster, a new tool to control the video quality, new playback options, an option to add media after the message has been sent, and last edit timestamps for messages.

Faster video loading and quality

The video player will not automatically choose the optimal quality based on the internet connection for large-channel uploads. This will help users save data while loading videos quickly. Users can now choose the preferred quality – high, medium, or low using the gear icon. On iOS, swiping up the video puts it in the Picture-in-Piucture (PiP) mode, letting users continue chatting. Telegram will also optimise and compress videos automatically for channels where high-quality videos will be shared without prior processing, so the members can watch the content in full resolution on high-speed networks.

New video playback options

Users playing videos will now see new playback speed adjustment in the player. They can tap and hold the right half of the video to enable fast-forwarding at 1.5x speed, while sliding right at the same time can increase the speed up to 2.5x. Releasing the touch returns the playback speed to 1x. Android users can double-tap left or right of the video to skip backward or forward by 10 seconds.

Adding media after the message is sent

Telegram will now let users add media to a sent message. The Edit option for a message now has the attachment option, allowing users to add photos, videos, and other media. The media can be changed any number of times using the edit option.

Last edit timestamps for Messages

When a user edits a message, the recipient can now see the time of edit. New edit timestamps will show when a message was last modified.