Telegram Stories are Now Available for All, No Longer Premium Feature; Why the Change?

Isaiah Richard, Tech Times 14 August 2023, 09:08 pm

Many apps have offered the "Stories" feature available on their platforms to bring 24-hour media playbacks of vertical images or videos, with Telegram initially making it a Premium feature. However, this changed now as the company made it available to the public as a free feature that they can access without the famed subscription.

This centers on Telegram's latest move to be a one-stop social messaging app which is similar to the likes of Meta's Messenger and WhatsApp that offer these for free since then.

Telegram Stories Now Available for Free

(Photo : Telegram)

One of the largest and most popular messaging apps of today, Telegram, is celebrating its ten years in the industry since its 2013 launch, and also introducing an iconic feature from its Premium, now free. The company wrote that it is making Telegram Stories a free feature for all to enjoy, one where they can share their day without the need for a subscription.

In this launch of the Telegram Stories feature, the company is adding more settings and customization options for users, one that is unique to its platform and not seen anywhere else. Stories are best known for their 24-hour duration, but on Telegram, users have the option to set their duration, granular privacy settings, and a dual-camera mode.

This comes alongside the hundreds of built features for the messaging app's expanded experiences.

Telegram Premium's Stories Change

The many features of Telegram Stories were made available on Premium initially, and the company targeted its 10th year in the business to launch this feature as a freely accessible one for all users.

It also adds Detailed View Statistics, as well as an iconic edit button that will allow users to effect changes even when the story is already posted.

Meta and Telegram Messaging

Different apps from developers have different names for the "Story" feature that is available on their platform, and it all centers on a 24-hour expiring set of media posts for users. It all started with Snapchat, the renowned social media platform which introduced this feature but was later seeing copycats from other companies.

Meta is one of the largest companies which followed suit on this feature, first introducing it with Instagram to bring vertical-oriented media for users.

Next, it was made available on Facebook Messenger, calling it the "My Day" feature which was also the same time as the Facebook app had it.

Soon after, Meta has done it again with WhatsApp, taking a page from its sister brand, Instagram.

Other companies also followed, including Twitter and LinkedIn which both removed it from their platforms, and then there was Telegram which only introduced it earlier this July.

With the company's take, Telegram made it available via Premium at first, testing the feature amongst its users, but now made it available without needing a subscription for all to access.