Telegram’s revamped media editor adds a blur tool and more text options

Telegram’s latest update includes an overhauled media editor outfitted with a bunch of new tools to decorate — or conceal — parts of your image or videos. In an update on its blog, Telegram says it’s introducing a new blur tool that lets you block out certain areas of a photo or video, allowing you to hide sensitive information, or blur the faces of passersby who appear in the background.

To make the blurred portion of your photo blend in, Telegram says you can use the eyedropper tool to match the colour of the blur brush to your image. Additionally, Telegram’s adding a way to change the size, font, and background of text (sort of like Instagram or Snapchat) when adding it to photos or videos.

Image: Telegram

It says its revamped drawing tools “dynamically change width” depending on how fast you’re drawing and automatically smooths out lines. Telegram also added a way to quickly add shapes, such as rectangles, circles, arrows, stars, and chat bubbles by tapping the “plus” icon in the editor. And if you don’t want your recipient to see what you’re sending right away, you can now apply a spoiler effect that adds a “shimmering layer” to an image or video that hides its contents until your recipient taps it.

Outside of image editing tools, Telegram’s latest update includes new storage options that let you automatically remove cached data in private chats, groups, and channels after a certain period of time, all while excluding the chats of your choosing. While Telegram previously let you clear your cache across all chats, this should make it easier to free up space automatically without affecting important conversations. It’s introducing a handy new pie chart as well, which shows how much storage different types of files, like videos, documents, music, and photos, are taking up.

Image: Telegram

There are also some other new settings that allow you to choose profile pictures for contacts that only you’ll see — perfect if you have a certain unflattering picture you’d like to be reminded of each time someone messages you. You can even suggest profile pictures for specific contacts, which they can then swap out if they like what you’ve chosen. And if you already limit the visibility of your profile picture to your contacts only, Telegram now gives you the option to set a public profile picture that everyone can see. On the other hand, you can now set the visibility of your profile picture to “nobody” if you don’t want anyone on the app to see your picture, not even your contacts.

Other minor features include new animated and interactive emoji, a new progress animation on Android, and the ability for group admins to hide their member lists. This package of updates adds to the list of several other features Telegram added over the course of the last few months, including a way for Telegram users to sign up without a phone number and video transcription for Premium users.