Telegram update delayed Apple over animated emoji, claims CEO Durov

Earlier this week, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov took a dig at Apple’s App Store review process. He claimed that Apple was preventing a major app update from rolling out for the last two weeks. That said, Apple has now approved the update but has asked Telegram to remove one of its newly introduced features – Telemoji.
It looks like Apple had some problems with the addition of a specific Telemoji pack. These are animated emojis exclusive to the platform.
“This is a puzzling move on Apple’s behalf, because Telemoji would have brought an entire new dimension to its static low-resolution emoji and would have significantly enriched their ecosystem,” Pavel Durov said in a Telegram post. He went on to express his frustration about the app review process saying that they are “often unable to dribute the new versions of Telegram due to the obscure “review process” imposed on all mobile apps the tech monopolies”.

The latest Telegram update on iOS brings in a lot of new features such as a revamped sticker panel that comes with different tabs for stickers, emojis and GIFs. In the coming weeks, Premium users will be able to add and send custom emojis as a message reaction. Users can also gift other users Telegram Premium for three months, six months or even a year-long subscription at a discounted price.
Soon after Telegram removed the Telemoji feature, Apple approved the update, which can be now downloaded via the App Store.