Telegram doubles down on Clubhouse-like group chats with new features - Android

Everyone wants their own Clubhouse, even Telegram.

What you need to know

• Telegram has just launched its upgraded Voice Chats 2.0.
• New features include limitless chats in channels, audio recording, and hand-raising.
• The new features are included in a new update that's rolling out today.

Clubhouse has become the latest hit messaging app on the block, with companies like Twitter and Facebook launching or working on their own versions. For those not familiar, Clubhouse is an invite-only voice chatting app that lets users join various group discussions or create their own. Right now, it's only available on iPhone, but a version is in development that will be available on the best Android phones. For now, Android users will have to stick to other options, like Telegram, which is another app that launched its own voice chat feature back in December. Today the app is doubling down on this by adding more capabilities with Voice Chats 2.0.

With the update, Telegram has brought Voice Chats to its channels and allows an unlimited amount of people to join in on a chat. Telegram describes it as "public radio reinvented for the 21st century." A new feature for the platform includes the ability to raise hands to indicate the intent to speak to the chat admin. The app also supports audio recording, which admins can post later in groups or channels, as well as a neat overlay that lets you keep the conversation going while doing other things on your phone.

Telegram is also making it easier to add new people to speak or listen by incorporating separate invite links to ensure that special guests will have the ability to speak when entering the chat. And when joining a new chat, Telegram will give you the option to choose to join as yourself or your channel, which would be an ideal option for public figures or celebrities.

Other features include a new menu for forwarding messages that lets you cancel or reroute forwarding, playback resume for voice chats to continue where you left off, and an assignable swipe action for chats on Android that lets you choose a preferred action, including archiving chats, pinning, muting, deleting or marking them as read.

All these features are rolling out today on Telegram. For those who have yet to make the switch from WhatsApp, we have a handy guide to walk you through how to transfer your WhatsApp messages to Telegram.