Telegram - the popular messaging app - is rolling out a host of new features in an update, and chief among those new features is the ability to apply custom sounds as your notification alert. 

This new feature will allow you to use any sound as an alert, including any sounds or voice notes sent to you within a chat. It also means you can set custom sounds for each individual chat if you want to. So if you'd like to set a specific sound for messages from your close friends, family and loved ones, or a custom sound for a work chat, you can do so now. 

There is a limit, however. The sound has to be less than five seconds in length, and under 300KB in size. Apart from that, there are no restrictions. In fact, you can try out some of Telegram's own ones in its Notification Sounds Telegram channel

How to download a voice note/sound for notifications on iPhone

You can use any sound as an alert in Telegram, including voice notes sent within a chat. So if you have a chat with funny, short voice notes in it, the process to use that as a notification is pretty simple. 

On iPhone: 

  1. Open the chat with the sound in
  2. Tap and hold the voice note/sound you want to use
  3. From the popup menu that appears, choose 'Save for Notifications' from the pop-up menu

On Android:

  1. Open the chat containing the sound you want
  2. Tap in the space immediately next to a voice note/sound in a chat
  3. Select 'Save for Notifications' from the pop-up menu

How to set any sound as a custom notification

You might not want to use voice notes as a custom sound, but rather an individual audio file you have saved on your phone. And the good news is you can use that in the latest update too. Here's how to get to it.

On iPhone: 

  1. Open a chat
  2. Tap the image of the person/group in the top right corner
  3. Tap 'Mute' beneath the image thumbnail
  4. Now select 'Customise' from the list
  5. Under 'Telegram Tones' choose any sound already added to the list or  
  6. Or.. to add a new one, select 'Upload Sound' and find the sound you want in your iPhone files 

On Android

  1. Open a chat
  2. Tap the profile image in the top left corner
  3. Select 'Notifications' 
  4. Now tap 'Customise' from the pop-up menu
  5. Select 'Sound' 
  6. Now choose from the 'Telegram tones' if you've already added some
  7. Or... tap 'Upload Sound' to add a new one

Other new features in the recent update include better translations for messages in other languages, improved picture-in-picture mode on Android and some enhancements to its bots.