Telegram to get Stories feature

In July, the popular Telegram Messenger will introduce its Stories function. According to Telegram Messenger founder Pavel Durov, many users have been asking for this feature for a long time, but only recently the developers decided to implement it.

“For years, our users have been asking us to implement Stories in Telegram. More than half of all feature requests that we receive are related to Stories. Initially, we were against this since Stories are already everywhere. However, Telegram wouldn't be Telegram if we didn't listen to our users and didn't innovate on existing formats. So we will be launching Stories soon – in the Telegram way," Durov wrote on his Telegram channel.

Users who post Stories on Telegram will be able to choose who can view each story: all users, only contacts, a select few contacts, or only close friends.

You can also choose when your Stories on Telegram will expire—in 6, 12, 24, or 48 hours. You can also permanently display Stories on your profile page, with individual privacy settings for each.

According to Durov, Stories on Telegram will enable to increase the audience of channels because with their help "going viral on Telegram will become a lot easier." Telegram channels will be able to repost their posts to Stories and gain more exposure.

In Telegram, Stories will be placed at the top of the chat list, but they can be hidden in a special "Hidden" menu in the "Contacts" section.

Also, Stories on Telegram will have photo and video editing tools, captions, and the ability to tag other people in them.

In addition, it will be possible to post photos and videos taken with the front and main cameras of the smartphone simultaneously in the Telegram Messenger.

According to Durov, currently the testing of Stories for Telegram is ending. The new function will be available to users already at the beginning of July.

“Overall, following our internal tests of Stories, even the skeptics on our team started to appreciate this feature. We can no longer imagine Telegram without it," wrote the founder of Telegram Messenger.