Telegram will introduce Stories in July, it’s official

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov made an announcement today. He revealed that the messaging app will introduce Stories in early July. Users have been requesting this feature for years. Durov mentioned that over half of Telegram’s feature requests are related to Stories. Initially, the company was against adding Stories because they felt it was already present everywhere. However, they decided to listen to their users.

With Stories on Telegram, users will have control over their audience. They can choose who sees their stories. Options include everyone, contacts, selected contacts, or a list of close friends. Stories will be placed in an expandable section at the top of the chat list. If desired, users can hide Stories from specific contacts by moving them to the “Hidden” list in the Contacts section.

Users can enhance their Stories with captions, links, and tags. They can even post photos and videos simultaneously using both front and rear cameras, similar to the BeReal style.

Furthermore, users will have the ability to choose when their stories expire. Options range from six to 48 hours. Alternatively, stories can be permanently displayed on the profile page, resembling Instagram’s Story highlights.

Durov expressed his excitement about the feature. Saving stories to the profile page will make Telegram profiles more informative and colorful. It will allow users to explore content from their closest contacts. And learn more about others they connect with in groups or channel comments. Channels will also benefit from increased exposure and subscribers with the ability to repost messages from channels to stories. Going viral on Telegram will become easier.

Durov stated that even the skeptics on the Telegram team started to appreciate Stories after internal testing. He believes that Stories will usher in a new era for Telegram and transform it into a more social platform.

The Stories feature is currently in its final testing phase and will be available in early July. Durov is confident that it will significantly enhance the Telegram experience.