Telegram adds message reactions, bigger emoji animations, and more in latest update

Ben Schoon | Dec 30 2021 - 6:04 am PT

Messaging on Android is still sort of a mess, but third-party apps can step in to solve the problems that Google apparently cannot. Today, one of the best messaging services, Telegram, announced the long-awaited debut of message reactions and more in its latest update.

Rolling out now, Telegram 8.4 is an update that many users have been waiting years to get their hands on. Telegram is finally adding message reactions.

Starting with this latest update, Telegram users can send reactions that attach to specific messages instead of sending as their own messages. This feature, which has been widely adopted throughout other messaging clients, including iMessage, Discord, Slack, and others, works with six emojis currently, including thumbs up, thumbs down, heart, fire, party, and star-eyes. On iOS, you can customize this list to include several other options, but Android currently lacks that ability. There’s also a “default reaction” gesture that lets you double-tap a message to add a reaction, and this gesture can be customized too.

To add further flair to your conversations on Telegram, the app is also putting more emphasis on its animated emojis, which have been around for quite some time. The new animated emoji effects will be much larger and more intricate on the screen, but only in one-on-one chats.

Telegram is also rolling out support for “Spoiler Alert” messages that blur out selected portions of text until a user clicks on the option (we’ve opted not to include Telegram’s demo of this feature since it does, ironically, contain a legitimate spoiler).

Telegram is also adding in-app translation for messages. This feature works on all Android devices, but only iPhones running iOS 15 or higher. And lastly, users can create themed QR codes for their accounts.

Telegram 8.4 is live now in the Google Play Store, rolling out to all Android users.