Following the privacy-policy debacle by WhatsApp last year, its well-known competitor Telegram became one of the popular messaging apps in the market. As a result, the company is quickly adding new features to its platform to better the user experience. Recently, Telegram rolled out an update with support for scheduling voice chats on the platform. Now, as per a recent sneak peek, it seems like Telegram is planning to add group video calling soon.
The announcement came from founder and CEO Pavel Durov himself on his Telegram channel. Durov shared a short video showcasing the feature along with key details of the upcoming feature. You can check out the video and Durov’s post from the link on the Telegram app on your mobile device.
As per Durov, Telegram will be adding a “video dimension” to its voice chat feature with an update in May. This will allow users in a voice chat session to turn on their cameras to experience a group video call on Telegram. And as per the sneak-peek video shared by Durov, the UI looks pretty neat.
There is a dedicated area at the top of the voice chat window to show a video feed of the person who is speaking. In the middle, there is a list of active participants with a mic button beside each of their profiles. Below that, there are three control buttons to mute, turn on/off the camera, and leave the voice chat session.
The feature will support screen sharing, noise cancelation, and support for desktops and tablets. Moreover, the feature also works in the landscape orientation and looks pretty well optimized. Furthermore, Durov says that the group video calling feature will also come with secured encryption and Telegram-level UI, and speed. As a result, this will make Telegram on par with any modern video conferencing tool.
Coming to the availability of the feature, it will be released with an update sometime in May. So, stay tuned for more details.
