What’s new on August Telegram update?

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Welcome Messages for New Members

One of the most useful additions in this update is Welcome Messages.

Previously, when someone joined a Telegram group or channel, administrators had limited ways to provide that person with information specifically intended for new members. Telegram now allows groups and channels to create a dedicated welcome message that is visible only to the person who has just joined.

This has an important advantage: administrators can provide instructions, rules, links or other useful information to new members without filling the main conversation with messages that existing members don’t need to see.

For example, an educational Telegram group could automatically provide a new member with:

• Information about the group
• Community rules
• Links to learning materials
• Instructions on how to participate
• Contact information for administrators

Welcome Messages can contain multiple messages and media, and Telegram’s rich text formatting can also be used.

How to Create a Welcome Message

Telegram says that you don’t need a bot to create one.

1. Open the profile of your group or channel, select:
\
• Edit
• Welcome Message

You can then create the messages that new members will see when they join.

This could be particularly useful for large communities where administrators regularly need to explain the same information to newly joined members.

Buttons Can Now Be Placed Directly Inside Messages

Another major change is the ability for developers to put interactive buttons directly inside messages.

Telegram has supported bots and interactive functionality for years. With this update, developers can take that idea further by creating interactive experiences that fit directly inside a single message.

These buttons can be combined with ephemeral messages—messages or interface elements that disappear—to create interactive workflows.

Telegram gives several possible uses, including:

• Surveys
• Games
• Quizzes
• Horoscopes
• Product browsing
• Product ordering

Other interactive experiences

These interactive messages can also be used inside groups and channels, allowing many users to interact with them independently. Telegram gives chess as an example, where different users can participate in separate games within the same environment.

This Is Important for Telegram Bots

For developers, this feature is more significant than it might initially appear.

Telegram describes bots as having made it possible to create applications inside a regular chat. The new functionality takes this concept further by allowing an application-like interaction to be embedded directly into a message.

A developer could therefore create a message containing several options, and users could interact with those options without leaving the conversation.

For example, a Telegram bot could send:

• What would you like to do?
• Read Article
• Take Quiz
• Watch Video

A user could select an option and continue through the interaction.

Telegram says developers will need to do some coding to create these automated flows and provides additional technical documentation through its developer platform.

Documents, Files and Music Inside Text

Telegram has also expanded its Rich Text Editor.

Users can now place more types of inline media directly inside blocks of text. This includes documents, files and music.

This can be useful when composing longer messages where the author wants to combine explanations with related files.

For example, someone sharing a tutorial could write an explanation and place a PDF, spreadsheet or audio file alongside the relevant section instead of sending all the files separately.

How to Open the Rich Text Editor

Telegram says that after typing more than three lines of text in the input field, an expand icon (⛶) appears. Tapping that icon opens the text editor.

The feature could be particularly useful for educators, researchers, community administrators and channel owners who regularly publish longer-form content.

Telegram Now Shows a Placeholder for Outdated Apps

Telegram has also introduced a solution for users who haven’t updated the application.

Sometimes Telegram adds a new feature that an older version of the app doesn’t know how to display. Instead of simply leaving users with an unexplained interface, Telegram can now show a placeholder explaining that an update is required.

The placeholder also provides a button for downloading the latest version.

This is useful because Telegram’s feature set changes frequently. A user running an outdated application could otherwise encounter content created using features that their version doesn’t support.

>How to Enable Automatic Update

On Android, Telegram points users to:

• Play Store
• Settings
• Network Preferences
• Auto-update Apps

On iOS, automatic updates can be enabled through:

• Settings
• Apps
• App Store
• App Updates

Keeping Telegram updated is particularly important when new features involve changes to the message interface.

Signed Gifts Arrive in the Telegram Marketplace

Telegram has also added another feature to its growing digital-gift ecosystem.

Users can already use Telegram Stars to purchase collectible and other rare gifts through the Telegram Marketplace. With this update, users can add a signature and comment when sending gifts purchased from the marketplace.

This gives the gift a more personal touch.

How to Send a Signed Gift

Telegram’s instructions are:

• Open the profile of the person you want to send the gift to.
• Tap ⋮ / ⋯.
• Select Send a Gift.
• Choose the Collectible filter.
• Select the collectible gift you want to purchase and send.

The feature builds on Telegram’s broader expansion into collectible digital gifts and the Telegram Stars ecosystem.

Telegram Celebrates 13 Years

The update isn’t only about new features. Telegram is also celebrating its 13th anniversary.

According to Telegram, the company released 12 major updates containing more than 55 features during the past year.

Among the features Telegram highlights are:

• Rich Text Formatting
• Liquid Glass design on iOS
• Major Android redesign
• Chat Automation
• 100M+ Sticker and Emoji Search
• Telegram apps for Smartwatches
• AI Bot support
• Improved Polls
• Member Tags in Groups
• Communities
• Passkeys
• Music on Profiles

The list shows how Telegram has expanded well beyond its traditional role as a messaging application.

What These Changes Mean for Telegram Users

At first glance, these features may appear unrelated. But there is a common direction behind them: Telegram is increasingly turning conversations into interactive environments.

Welcome Messages make communities easier to manage.

Interactive Buttons allow developers to build application-like experiences inside messages.

Inline Documents make long-form communication more useful.

Signed Gifts expand Telegram’s digital marketplace.

Together, these changes make Telegram less dependent on users leaving a conversation to perform another task.

For community administrators, the new Welcome Messages could be particularly useful. For developers, interactive buttons could open up new possibilities for bots and mini applications. And for ordinary users, inline documents and improved gift functionality add more flexibility to everyday communication.

A Particularly Interesting Feature for Accessibility

From an accessibility perspective, the Welcome Messages feature could be useful when community administrators use it to provide clear orientation information to new members.

For example, an administrator could create a welcome message explaining the purpose of a group, important rules and how members should navigate the community.

However, the usefulness of these features for blind and screen-reader users ultimately depends on how the new interface components are exposed to accessibility APIs such as TalkBack and VoiceOver.

Interactive buttons, rich text, inline media and other dynamic components need meaningful accessible names, states and focus behavior. The introduction of a feature doesn’t automatically make the feature accessible.

For users who depend on screen readers, it is therefore worth testing the new functionality with their preferred assistive technology after updating Telegram.

One More Reason to Keep Telegram Updated

This update also highlights something important about modern applications: updating isn’t only about getting new features.

Telegram is now explicitly providing placeholders when an older version cannot render newer functionality. That means users who don’t update may eventually encounter content they cannot properly interact with.

For users who rely on accessibility features, keeping the application updated can be even more important because accessibility fixes and improvements are often delivered through application updates.

Final Thoughts

Telegram’s 13th-anniversary update is another example of how the platform continues to expand beyond conventional messaging.

The most significant changes are arguably Welcome Messages and interactive buttons inside messages. Welcome Messages can make large groups and channels easier to manage, while interactive buttons give developers new ways to build workflows, games, surveys and other experiences directly inside Telegram.

The addition of inline documents makes the Rich Text Editor more capable, while signed gifts continue Telegram’s development of its digital marketplace.

For ordinary users, some of these features may seem small. For developers, educators, community administrators and content creators, however, they open up considerably more possibilities.

And with Telegram now 13 years old, the direction is clear: the platform isn’t simply trying to become a better messaging app. It’s increasingly becoming a platform where communication, content, automation, applications and digital commerce can exist together inside the same environment.