A day after Pavel Durov said an update had been in Apple’s app review for two weeks, the Telegram CEO and founder has now released the feature.
According to Durov, the new update comes packed with emoji-related features. However, one is missing because the tech giant requested its removal specifically.
“After extensive media coverage of my previous post, Apple got back to us with a demand to water down our pending Telegram update by removing Telemoji — higher quality vector-animated versions of the standard emoji,” the CEO and founder said wrote on his Telegram channel.
Durov said it is a puzzling move on Apple’s behalf because Telemoji would have brought an entirely new dimension to its static low-resolution emoji and would have significantly enriched their ecosystem.
“But it is good for Telegram long term, as we will now make Telemoji even more unique and recognisable. Besides, we have included 10 other emoji packs in today’s update — together with the ability for any user to upload their own emoji,” Durov said.
He said it was an interesting engineering challenge to ensure that hundreds of vector-based emoji with smooth animations could simultaneously play on any mobile phone screen.
Telegram said it is the first company ever to have implemented this in a mobile app.
In a few weeks, users will be able to add any custom emoji as a reaction to a message and display an emoji as their current status next to their name.
The company also mention that the new update will become available to Premium subscribers first.