Telegram Working On A Premium Membership Tier, Will Drop Its ‘Free Forever’ Slogan

Last Updated on May 28, 2022 by Anu Joy

Currently, Telegram includes a splash screen with the words, “Telegram is free forever. No ads. No subscription fees” when you’ve downloaded the Telegram app. The app has been free to use so far and Telegram has stuck to its promise of no ads as well. This, however, may change in the future. Telegram Premium’s existence has been supported by evidence for quite some time.

The service’s beta version gave us a taste of what to expect, with exclusive reactions and stickers. Now, code for an upcoming version of the Telegram app has been discovered, with that slogan removed to make it obvious that it would not be free indefinitely.

New data strings have given us a glance at the same page in a possible next version of the app that substantially modifies the text, as discovered first by mobile developer Alessandro Paluzzi on Twitter. “Telegram provides unlimited free cloud storage for chats and media”, it now states.

Since late 2020, Telegram has made it obvious that it is planning a premium subscription to help monetise the messaging app, but the company has yet to clarify what that service will be. However, information from the app’s iOS beta released earlier this month revealed what will be available. The service will display a star emblem at the top of your chats and on your profile to indicate that you are a Premium member. Premium customers will also get access to additional reactions and stickers.

There’s no indication yet on what kinds of subscription options Telegram will offer or when the switch will be made public.