Telegram - Groups can become voice chat rooms

[Dairyfarmer]

Voice Chats Done Right

Today, Telegram groups get an entire new dimension with Voice Chats – persistent conference calls that members can join and leave as they please. Our 12th update in 2020 brings them to you just in time for remote Christmas carols.

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Voice Chats Done Right​

Since 2013, we've been expanding the definition of Group Chats, adding features like replies, mentions with smart notifications, advanced polls, admin tools, group statistics – and allowing hundreds of thousands of members per group. Many of these features were later incorporated into other apps and redefined how people communicate.
Today, Telegram groups get an entire new dimension with Voice Chats – persistent conference calls that members can join and leave as they please. Our 12th update in 2020 brings them to you just in time for remote Christmas carols.

Voice Chats​

Any Telegram group can now become a voice chat room that is always on. Voice Chats run in parallel to existing text and media-based communication, adding a live layer of ephemeral talk to the group. They can be used as virtual office spaces for teams or informal lounges for any community.
While Voice Chats are not group calls, they can achieve similar goals – at the same time offering flexibility instead of old school scheduling. In larger groups, they also provide serendipitous opportunities for talking to people.

Groups with active voice chats have a special bar at the top that shows who is talking at the moment (and even how loud they are). This can help you pick the right moment to join – like noticing your friends going over to the cooler.

After joining a voice chat, you are free to move around the app, browse conversations and send messages. You stay connected to the chat and the microphone controls remain on screen so that you can quickly mute and unmute yourself at any time.
If you're on Android, you can enjoy the full Voice Chat experience with a system-wide floating widget that shows your mic controls and who is currently talking, even when Telegram is in the background. Santa is on Android too – and he needs his sleigh navigator open at all times.

You can chat with whomever is online or invite more people via the handy menu. Voice Chats can accommodate a few thousand participants, which means they'll work for everything from consulting family members while out shopping to a massive live event.
Last but not least, Voice Chats show spectacular animations. To get these right, our designer had to sell his soul to the devil – and we think it was totally worth it.

To create a Voice Chat and find your own unique way of using them, open the profile of any group where you're an admin, tap (⋯) or (⋮) and select Start Voice Chat.

Like Telegram groups before them, we hope that Voice Chats will change the way people collaborate and keep in touch. In the coming weeks, we'll be refining them further, listening to your feedback, improving noise suppression, and adding more features like video and screen sharing.

Push-to-Talk Shortcuts​

On Telegram Desktop and in the native macOS app, you can choose a push-to-talk key for Voice Chats, to control your mic even when Telegram is not focused. At long last, we've found a use for your Caps Lock key.