Telegram, the biggest competitor to WhatsApp and one of the most popular texting applications, might be bringing a Premium model users. The recent iOS beta of the application with version 8.7.2 was released with a new range of reaction emojis and stickers. According to the Telegram Beta Channel, first shared by Gadgets360, these new stickers and reaction emojis are premium in nature. Users will be reportedly asked to sign up for the Telegram Premium subscription plan when they view this new range of reaction emojis and stickers. This will be a new way for Telegram to monetise the platform by adding a premium plan.
Premium Subscription Should Not Derail the Free Features
The app’s free features currently should be free only at the end of the day. Only certain exclusives might go in the Premium subscription of Telegram. If the model works out, maybe WhatsApp could try something along the similar lines. Currently, the Premium subscription of Telegram has only been spotted for the iOS beta. It has not yet made it to the Android beta, and there’s no clarity around when it will. Since it is only stickers and emojis, it will be very unlikely that Telegram will charge a major amount of money from the users. When it comes to functionality and features, Telegram is way ahead of WhatsApp. However, Meta owned WhatsApp had the early mover advantage in the market and is also pretty simple to use and communicate with for most people. Telegram could be confusing for new users who get intimidated when they see a high number of features in the application. But for, people who are used to them understand just how easy and more fun chatting becomes with all the features compared to what you get with WhatsApp. Telegram might or might not launch this premium feature. No official communication from the company has arrived yet.
