Telegram is refining its in-app experience by adding a mini app store for native applications and an option to save the user’s browsing progress in the in-app browser. The mini-app store hopes to encourage more users to use these mini-apps to enhance the app’s experience by providing additional functionality while hopefully providing a safe place for users to get said apps.
The company’s announcement states that over 500 million of its 950 million users interact with these apps monthly. To get the other 450 million onboard, the app will now have a new “Apps” tab in search that shows a list of apps you can use and a list of popular mini apps. These mini-apps consist of games, AI assistants, text-to-image generators, and a slew of other features that enhance the overall Telegram experience.
Developers can also upload video demos and screenshots for their mini-app previews to let users know what to expect. These apps will also be able to generate story content like “AI-generated videos, achievements, or snapshots of leaderboards” for users to share on their Telegram stories from within the app itself.
The browser improvements include the ability to collapse and reopen pages opened in the in-app browser from the bottom bar. The app’s MacOS version has also received an update, and the browser can now support games, mini-apps, instant view pages, and even Web3 sites in tabs.
Other changes include minor improvements such as adding a cover image when posting video stories, an animated weather widget for stories, flash access when recording video messages, and the ability to buy stars as a gift for your contacts.
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