Telegram October update
Telegram has announced a new update with a range of features that improve group conversations, profiles and chatbots. The update introduces comments and reactions in group conversations, notes for contacts, suggested birthdays and more personalisation options for your profile, among others. There are also adjustments for AI bots, gifts and design on iOS.
Comments and reactions in group conversations
In group conversations and video chats, you can now send temporary reactions and comments. These appear briefly on the screen, which is useful for confirming something 👍, showing appreciation ❤️ or asking a question while your microphone is turned off. The feature is available for groups with fewer than a thousand participants. You send a response by tapping the 'Send message' button. If you send only an emoji, an animated response will appear to all participants.
Notes and birthdays for contacts
You can now add private notes to contacts. For instance, you can keep track of where you met someone or what their favourite coffee is. These notes are only visible to you and appear below their bio on their profile. In addition, you can suggest birthdays to contacts. The user then receives a notification to easily add the date to his or her profile. You can add your own birthday via Settings > Edit > Date of birth.
New profile colours and personalisation
In the settings, you can further customise the look of your profile. Premium users get extra options: they can link background colours, symbols and styles to their profile or even to posts and links. Some gifts give access to unique styles and animations.
Improvements for AI bots and gifts
Chatbots on Telegram now support conversations with threads. This means bots can manage multiple topics at once, which is especially useful for AI assistants. Moreover, AI bots can stream responses as they are generated, so you don't have to wait for a full reply. The gift interface has been revamped: all available gifts are now clearly listed in one place, and upgrades become cheaper over time. You can also remove the signature of gifts with Telegram stars if you want to hide the message or resell the gift.
Other improvements
iOS users will get a revamped Liquid Glass interface, matching iOS 26's design with transparent elements and smooth animations. So we won't see this on Android for now, although there are rumours that several manufacturers are incorporating different aspects of this design into their skins. Finally, there is a mini-app that allows you to report bugs or make suggestions directly from within Telegram, without opening a separate website.
The update will be rolled out globally for all users in the coming days. Don't want to miss anything from DroidApp? Then follow DroidApp's Telegram channel.
