Telegram updated its secure messaging app with features including the ability to send video messages, a new video hosting platform and a broadening of its Instant View offering.

Much like voice messages, users can now send video communications, which Telegram said will be delivered “in the blink of an eye” because they will be compressed and sent as they are being recorded.

If users don’t want to hold down the camera button while recording, they can lock the camera in recording mode by swiping up.

Video messages are automatically downloaded and autoplayed by default, unless users change this in the app’s settings.

While watching a video message, users can browse through other chats – the video will pop up in a corner and continue playing. It can be moved around the screen and paused from anywhere in the app.

Telescope
Telegram also introduced Telescope, a hosting platform for those who use videos to communicate with their audiences, such as bloggers.

Previously, the company offered public video messages, which could only be viewed by the app’s users. Telegram said it amended the function so videos “can go viral beyond the Telegram ecosystem” and be shared on Twitter and Facebook.

Instant View
Similar to Facebook’s Instant Articles, Telegram’s updated Instant View means users don’t need to launch a web browser to view articles shared via the app.

Telegram explained users can now: “enjoy articles from any blog or media outlet in a uniform and easily readable way.” Previously, such functionality was restricted to articles available through online publishing site Medium and news outlet TechCrunch.

The move is inline with a previous pledge by the company to add access to more websites “as we go” and to provide “Instant View pages for every story on the web and thus devour the entire internet”.

Instant View is compatible with images, videos and a range of other media, and works even if the source website isn’t optimised for mobile devices.

The pages are lightweight and cached on Telegram servers, so they load instantly regardless of connection quality.

To generate these pages, Telegram uses a bot running a set of rules designed to create a “slim and beautiful” representation of the source page.