Telegram CEO Pavel Durov announced on Tuesday that the messaging platform will be launching Stories in early July. This announcement comes in response to demand from users, with more than half of all feature requests received by Telegram related to Stories, as per Durov.
Users will have the ability to precisely control who sees their stories on Telegram, with options including Everyone, only contacts (with exceptions), selected contacts, or a list of Close Friends. Users will also be able to hide any stories from their contacts that they don’t want to see by simply moving them to the “Hidden” list.
Stories will be presented in a compact UI format. Placed in an expandable section at the top of the chat list, users can easily access Stories without compromising valuable screen real estate.
Telegram Stories will offer a range of photo and video editing tools, which Durov did not expand on. Users will also be able to add captions to their Stories to provide additional context or add links and tags to other individuals.
Building on the success of Telegram's Video Messages, the platform will also introduce dual camera support for Stories where users will be able to post photos and videos captured simultaneously from the front and rear cameras.
Durov added that Telegram will allow users to choose an expiration time of six, 12, 24, or 48 hours for their Stories or opt to permanently display them on their profile page with individual privacy settings for each Story.
According to the CEO, the integration of Stories will not only enhance individual profiles but also elevate the Telegram experience within groups and channel comments. Users will gain access to more content from their closest contacts while discovering additional information about users they engage with in group discussions or channel interactions.
“(Telegram Channels) will benefit from more exposure and subscribers: once we launch the ability to repost messages from channels to stories, going viral on Telegram will become a lot easier,” he added.
The feature is in its final testing phase and users can expect its availability in early next month.
