Just because you’re awake at 4am, doesn’t mean all your friends are. But if you have an idea that just can’t wait, you face a dilemma: either risk forgetting it by sending it at a more sociable hour, or send it immediately and face justified annoyance for waking everyone up.
Telegram, the messaging app that previously brought us the ability to delete messages for everyone, has a third way. It’s introduced a feature that lets you send a message without toggling a notification sound, overruling any local settings the recipient may have on their phone. They’ll still get a visible notification if they happen to be up and about, but the phone itself won’t ping.
Telegram suggests the feature as ideal for sending messages when you expect friends are “sleeping, studying or attending a meeting,” and it works in group chats as well as with direct messages. To send a message this way, just hold down on the send button, and an option will appear saying “Send Without Sound.”
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The update also brings a host of other features including somewhat unnecessary custom admin titles for group chats, thumbnail previews on scrubbed videos, animated emoji and Android’s new attachment menu.
But the other big interesting new addition is “Slow Mode,” which is designed to make those anarchic busy group chats more manageable.
The idea is simple: admins will be able to set a cap of how frequently group members can send messages, forcing posts to be spaced between 30 seconds and one hour apart. This can be set as a permanent fixture, or toggled during especially busy times. If you’ve been throttled by the group admin, a timer will appear in your chat bar, showing you how long you have to wait before you can post again:
Are you a Telegram user? Do these features look like useful additions, or is it losing its simplicity? Let us know what you think on Twitter: @TrustedReviews.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
