May 20, 2017 - 14:25 AMT
Video messages and public ‘Telescope’ videos come to Telegram

Telegram released its latest 4.0 update this week, and one of the biggest features being added is video messages, which allows users to send video clips to each other at the push of a button. It’s similar to the app’s addition of audio messages — in fact, to access the video message feature, users simply tap the existing audio icon to switch to video mode, The Verge reveals.

Like audio messages, Telegram’s video messages are automatically downloaded and autoplayed by default, and feature a picture-in-picture mode within Telegram so you can do other things in the app while watching a video.

But along with private video messages, Telegram is looking to expand its public channels by adding video there as well, in a feature called Telescope. Telescope videos, like Telegram video messages, are clips up to a minute long, but they’ll be publicly available through a direct URL, even to people without Telegram accounts.

Both features should be available now as Telegram’s 4.0 update rolls out.