Telegram, a cloud-based mobile and desktop messaging service, has updated its app to allow users to move their chat history from other rival platforms including WhatsApp.

The company broke the news in a blog post on Thursday while announcing a flurry of other new initiatives for its users.

Telegram explained that with the latest update, users can now move chat history including videos and documents for individual and group chats.

“Starting today, everyone can bring their chat history including videos and documents to Telegram from apps like WhatsApp, Line and KakaoTalk. This works both for individual chats and groups,” it wrote.

The company accompanied the post with a short video wherein it explained the steps its users can adopt to enable them move their chats from other apps to Telegram.

“To move a chat from WhatsApp on iOS, open the Contact Info or Group Info page in WhatsApp, tap Export Chat, then choose Telegram in the Share menu,” it added.

“On Android, open a WhatsApp chat, tap ⋮ > More > Export Chat, then choose Telegram in the Share menu:

“Messages will be imported into the current day but will also include their original timestamps. All members of the chat on Telegram will see the messages.”

Other features introduced include how users can save space after moving chats, increased privacy control, new animations and improved voice chats.

Telegram has continued to witness a surge in the number of users in recent times alongside Signal, another rival app, in the wake of a controversial privacy policy by WhatsApp.

In the blog post, Telegram also revealed that it got 100 million new users in January about two weeks after it recorded 500 million active users globally.

TheCable Lifestyle had reported how Signal also witnessed an increase in downloads across the world after endorsements from Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla.

This is coming on the back of the widespread criticism that greeted WhatsApp after it announced a new privacy policy in which users will have to let Facebook and its subsidiaries collect its data, like phone numbers and locations.