We launched stickers back in January 2015. Since then, the Telegram sticker format has been adopted by other apps to reach a total of 2 billion people. Today we’re introducing a new format for animated stickers.
We asked ourselves: Can animated stickers have higher quality than static ones while taking less bandwidth? The answer turned out to be YES (but only after we told developers they’d get moving cat pictures).
Smooth Animations, Tiny Size
Telegram engineers experimented with vector graphics, packaging methods and forbidden magic to create the Lottie-based .TGS format, in which each sticker takes up about 20-30 Kilobytes – six times smaller than the average photo.
Thanks to various optimizations, animated stickers consume less battery than GIFs and run at a smooth 60 frames per second. If a picture is worth a thousand words, that’s 180,000 words per sticker.
Open Platform
Naturally, animated stickers are a free platform. All artists are welcome to create new sets and share them with Telegram users.
Like its static predecessor, the Telegram animated sticker format is likely to become the new industry standard in messaging. Check out this quick guide to get started.
Starter Packs
As always, the fastest way to find a sticker that fits your mood is to type in a relevant emoji – Telegram will immediately suggest matching stickers.
Keep an eye out for new animated stickers – and our next update.
July 6, 2019The Telegram Team
