In recent years, gestures have become fundamental to the way we interact with our devices, prompting not only Android itself but also the apps that call it home to implement them. A prime example of this is Telegram, one of the best messaging apps out there. With such a plethora of features packed into Telegram, it’s easy to overlook some of them or forget they exist. So let’s take a look at some of the most useful gestures and shortcuts hidden in Telegram and why you should use them.
Peek conversation
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Sometimes I want to read a message but I don’t have time to answer it on the spot. The problem is that the sender can see when you’ve read the message you sent, which can be especially problematic if you have a psycho partner or an annoying friend or family member. However, Telegram has a solution in the form of peeking. Long-pressing the image next to the conversation name will bring up a preview where you can read recent messages in full without marking them as read. If you want to reply on the spot, just swipe up to open the full conversation.
Swipe to exit
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When our benevolent leader Artem first discovered this feature, he commissioned this very item. It’s incredibly simple: if you swipe from left to right on the screen while a conversation is open, it’ll slide away and you’ll be taken back to the chat list. Simple, yet practical and useful.
Swipe to reply
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This is by far my most used gesture, and it’s especially handy in group chats with dozens of users. We all know the headache of group chats with hundreds of different conversations going on at once. In Telegram, you can swipe from the right on any message to reply to it. Your reply, once sent, will show a preview of the original message which, when pressed, will automatically scroll up to that message. You can even reply to your messages to ensure thoughts can be read coherently later. So if you’ve been bothering to long-press Messages to use the reply button all this time, do yourself a favor and swipe instead.
Sticker preview
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Telegram has more stickers than you can shake a stick with users creating and sharing their own as well as those provided by the developer. The problem is that these stickers are incredibly small when displayed on the keyboard, making it impossible to read the text in a sticker or see the finer details. The solution to this is a simple long press. This will show you a larger preview so you can check if it’s the one you want. Animated stickers will also play in this preview, so there’s really no excuse for sending the wrong one.
Audio/Video Lock
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By pressing and holding the microphone button, you can send short voice notes to the person you are talking to. Well, if you have a lot to say, as the name suggests, swiping up to the padlock will lock the mic and you can let go. When you’re done, hit the stop button and send it. Tapping the mic takes you to video memos, where you can record and post short videos, and swiping up to lock the camera works here too if you’re planning a long speech.
This is an honorable mention as it is currently only available in Telegram X, an experimental app where the Telegram developers are testing new features. Now when you select messages to forward to someone else or save, you must select each one individually. In Telegram X you can simply select two messages, one at the top of your selection and one at the bottom, and then press the three lines in the action bar. Each message between the two selected will then be highlighted, saving you a lot of typing
