We try to talk about Telegram at the slightest pretext here on the blog – it’s one of our fave chat apps and every now and then it rolls out new features that make it even more of a gem. In the latest version (3.18) it’s finally added voice calling over the app. We’ve been asking for this for a long time and now we can properly enjoy it.
Telegram is meticulous about every new addition, hence why it’s taken them so long to roll out the voice calling feature – they want their app to be people’s go-to P2P audio communication tool. The voice calls that stand out for their ease of use, as the interface is similar to a traditional dialer, and for the security of the connection, as it uses the same end-to-end encryption as in the secret chats. This simplified encryption procedure involves checking keys and then checking that the two parties to the call have the same four emojis at the top of the screen.
Besides the high level of security the voice calls also stand out for the high quality of the audio and very low data consumption thanks to the audio codecs it uses as well as Telegram’s own services, which are used if the peer-to-peer connection can’t be set up. Plus the service quality should get better with time thanks to monitoring by an AI that observes whether you’re using WiFi or data to make the call and then adapts the service quality to either situation.
Telegram has hit a homerun with this new update. Though it’s a bit late to the game, the call quality definitely makes up for the wait time. Plus you can even control who can call you, with an option to specify if anyone can call you or just your contacts, and set a list of exceptions as needed.
The only “but” is that for now the voice calls are only available in Western Europe, though Telegram has promised to gradually expand the list of supported countries. As the cherry on top, this new version also includes the option to pick your desired compression range for the videos you send and you can preview how they’ll look for the recipient.
More info | Telegram Blog
Telegram for Android on Uptodown [APK] | Download
