Telegram is the best messenger. I speak about this completely sincerely. It is user-friendly, intuitive and completely unique in terms of the content that is hosted on its facilities. Well, where else can you read political insights, straightforward blogs of top stars and the latest news? Only in Telegram. But why, then, is the overwhelming majority using WhatsApp? Obviously, due to a wider set of functions, one of which was and remains video communication. But now she has appeared on Telegram.
Telegram has video calls for Android
Video calling originally debuted in Telegram beta for iOS. Therefore, if you have iPhone, you can already download a test assembly of the messenger and try out the innovation. We have described how to do this in a separate article. But to Android the function of video conferencing only reached tonight. Obviously, the Telegram developers completed the preparatory work, conducted debugging and testing and found the innovation stable enough to be presented to the public.
How to download the beta of Telegram
Despite the fact that Telegram is gradually launching the video calling feature, it is important to understand that while it is still in beta testing. Therefore, you will not be able to access it from the release version of the application. To do this, you have to tweak a little:
- Follow this link and download the APK of the beta version of Telegram 7.0;
Video calls are only available in the beta version of Telegram
- Install the beta version of Telegram on your smartphone and go through authorization;
- Send this instruction to someone from your colleagues or acquaintances so that they can do the same;
For video calls to work, Telegram beta must be installed on your interlocutor
- After your interlocutor installs the beta version, go to your chat with him, select the context menu (three vertical dots) and select Video Call.
An important clarification: video calls are a function that is built right into chats and does not exist as a separate menu item or settings. Therefore, in order to get through to someone by video call, your interlocutor must also install the beta version of Telegram. In this case, a corresponding button will appear in your chat. At the same time, in chats with all other users who are on a stable build, there will be no opportunity to make a video call, simply because their version does not support this function.
Telegram video calls
It is impossible to call a full-fledged video conference on Telegram yet
Despite the fact that in general the quality of video communication in Telegram raises no objections, FaceTime remains an ideal for me. I have no idea how Apple I managed to achieve this, but the clarity of the picture when using the company's proprietary service will be consistently high regardless of what device your interlocutor uses. Even on my MacBook Air with a 720p camera, FaceTime quality was much better than using services like Duo or Google Meet.
But what really disappoints is the lack of the ability to invite several interlocutors to video chat at once. In any case, at this stage, conversations in the format of video communication are possible only individually, as they say, face to face. But I would like to believe that in future updates, the Telegram developers will eliminate this misunderstanding and still introduce the ability to convene full-fledged video conferences with a large number of participants – at least like in WhatsApp.