Telegram has become even more popular now as the whole WhatsApp privacy policy brouhaha has brought a lot of new users to the messaging app. And it also helps that they keep on adding new features every couple of weeks or so. Now if you’re looking for an alternative to Zoom, Google Meet, and the usual video conferencing apps that you have, it looks like Telegram will be adding one soon. It’s basically their already existing voice chat feature but with a video option.
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov himself made the announcement about the upcoming feature, saying there will soon be a video dimension to the voice chats. This will make the app not just a messaging app but also a platform for group video calls. Some of the things that you can expect from the feature include screen sharing, noise cancelation (so no dogs barking or children crying in the background), desktop and tablet support, and of course the all-important encryption.
According to XDA Developers, this is a Clubhouse-like kind of feature but of course with video option. This means only a few people will be set as speakers and the rest will only be able to listen. You will only be able to speak when the admin or host gives you permission to do so. We don’t know any other details about the video conferencing feature but Durov promised we’ll get Telegram-level UI and speed as well.
A lot of people doing video conferencing right now still default to Zoom. Google has also been pushing its Google Meet video calling app. And there are a lot of other options out there. With the advent of audio chat apps and features like Clubhouse, Twitter’s Spaces, Facebook’s Live Audio Rooms, Telegram’s Voice Chat is also getting some traction. And now that it will have a video option or version soon, it will be interesting to see how it can compete with the big boys.
Durov says this “video dimension to our voice chats” will be coming this May. So you can probably expect this in their next major feature drop, which is always something to look forward to.
