Telegram is planning a 'Premium' sub with not-very-premium features

Telegram Messenger (Image credit: Luke Filipowicz/iMore)

What you need to know

Telegram is reportedly planning a new Premium subscription offering.
New reactions and stickers are likely to be offered as part of the subscription.

The popular private instant messaging app and service Telegram appears to be working on a new subscription offering that will give people access to exclusive features. The new Premium subscription is being tested with iPhone and iPad users who are part of the current beta testing pool.

In information shared by an unofficial Telegram Beta channel and picked up by 9to5Google, we see that Telegraph Premium will be the name of the subscription — although pricing is as-yet-unknown. We do know that new stickers and sections will be part of the offering, although it's possible that more additions will be shared in due course.

While there's no indication currently as to how much "Telegram Premium" will cost, there are a few hints as to how the subscription will work. In a quick demo as pictured below, reactions are similar to the bigger emoji that Telegram introduced in recent months, but with options that Telegram hasn't made available to free users. When clicking on a sticker sent by someone using the subscription, someone who isn't subscribed cannot see the reaction/sticker, and instead just sees a prompt to purchase the subscription model.

Telegram Premium Reactions In Beta (Image credit: 9to5Google)

Some suggest that we will also see a new avatar creator added to the mix eventually, but it still isn't really clear whether that will be part of the Telegram Premium subscription, or not.

There is currently no public timescale for when any of this will be made available to the version of Telegram that's in the App Store, unfortunately. Telegram is one fo the best iPhone apps for staying in touch with people on other platforms including Android, but whether people will pay for Telegram Premium remains o be seen.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.