Chat service Telegram has since received an update after Telegram founder Pavel Durov complained that Apple was holding back the innovations. The update was only released after Telegram removed a feature around emojis.
By our tech editorsDurov wrote last week that Apple had stopped the latest update of Telegram for two weeks without notice. The update is now here. “After a lot of media attention, Apple has come back to us,” Durov reports on his Telegram Channel. “They demanded that we smooth out our update by removing the new Telemojis.”
Telemoji are animated versions of the standard emojis found on Apple devices. Instead of still faces, they would move on Telegram’s keyboard. Durov does not understand the decision, he writes. “Telemojis would have added a whole new dimension to the static images and would greatly enrich Apple’s ecosystem.”
Apple has not responded to Durov’s message. The company may not want developers to change their emoji designs just like that.
Incidentally, the emojis have been adjusted in a different way in the new update for Telegram. For example, paying members of the chat app can use more exclusive, animated emojis in conversations. Furthermore, stickers and gifs are organized differently and users can control who can send them video messages and voice recordings.
