Telegram 5.5 Comes With Increased User Control Over Private Conversations

• Telegram 5.5 allows users to delete messages no matter how long it has been since they were sent.
• Another new feature is the private forwarding that obstructs the ability of users to trace back the sender.
• The rich selection of options in the settings will now be indexed by a powerful searching tool.

Telegram, the popular messaging app that privacy-minded people around the globe love to use, has released a new version (5.5) which offers the users higher levels of control over their conversations with others. More specifically, the most notable change was the setting of the “unsend” feature to unlimited. Previously, users could delete messages from both theirs and the recipients’ devices, provided that the retracting action took place in the next 48 hours following the sending of the message. Now, there’s no time limit, so you may delete sent messages from both devices at any point in the future.

Another privacy-boosting feature that lands with version 5.5 are the “Anonymous Forwarding”. This changes the name of the original sender of a message from being clickable to being non-clickable when the message is forwarded to another user. This way, there will be no way to track the original sender, so, there will be no verifiable way for anyone to prove that a user has sent a particular to them. The default setting favors the “clickable name” option, so if you want to enable this new feature, you’ll have to do it through the “Privacy and Security” settings.

While we’re at it, the settings page has become empowered with a search tool, so if you’re finding the Telegram settings to be labyrinthine, you will be happy to get your hands to the new search tool. It also points to FAQ keywords, so you’ll never feel lost anymore. Finally, this version brings the support of accessibility features, so people will now be able to talk to Telegram or use gestures to control it. This paves the way for people with specific disabilities to gain access to the secure communications app.

Telegram offers end to end encryption for messages that are exchanged between two users, using three encryption layers in the process based on the MTProto protocol. It supports the setting of passwords for user access on the device, secret chat options, offline key verification, self-destructed messages, media encryption, and now unlimited message deletion and privacy-respective forwarding. All of this makes it valuable in the hands of people who want to communicate without having to worry that their data is shared with 3rd parties, and has also led to its banning in several countries like Russia and Iran. While it’s not by any means perfect, it is one of the most robust options you have in terms of secure communications.

Are you using Telegram? Are you excited by the new features that came with version 5.5? Share your comments below, and don’t hesitate to join the discussions of our online community on Facebook and Twitter.