Telegram has announced a new group calls feature, giving users the ability to turn on their cameras or share their screens during group chats.
With last week’s update – which also introduces animated backgrounds and message animations – Telegram is launching a new group video calls feature that lets chat group members start a video conference by just pressing the camera icon.
Related | Telegram Now Lets You Move Your Chat History From Other Apps
The feature enables users to share their camera feed, share their screens – or do both at the same time.
The feature also lets members tap on the video of any other group participant to launch their video in fullscreen – or pin a video to let all new users join in. Unlike audio group chats, Telegram limits participation in group video chats to the first 30 members who join in the call – but this limit will be expanded soon.
The new feature also offers a few goodies like noise suppression in voice chats “to keep everyone’s audio clear and crisp.” Users can also turn off noise suppression in settings. Furthermore, there is a side panel for a split-screen view on larger screens of tablets and desktops.
On desktop, the app allows for selective screen sharing, which enables broadcasting an individual program rather than the entire screen. In addition, anyone sharing screens on the desktop app will have their video pinned automatically – a functionality that can be quite useful to small teams coordinating their work.
Among other relevant changes and updates to Telegram, last July, the app introduced unlimited file sharing with up to 2GB per file, Profile Videos, improved People Nearby, and more.
Earlier this year, to make it easier for users to move to its app from others (like WhatsApp), Telegram announced that it allows users to move their chat history from other apps.