Apple tells Telegram to remove Telemojis from latest update

Source: Reuters

Apple vs Telegram over the updates to the instant messaging app just got a bit more interesting.

Recently, Telegram founder Pavel Durov in a lengthy post expressed his displeasure over Apple's app store review policies, accusing the Cupertino-based technology giant of withholding updates without any reason.

After the post was widely shared and talked about, Apple has passed the update through its review process but not unscathed. It has requested Telegram remove Telemoji's, which are, "higher quality vector-animated versions of the standard emoji".

Durov expressed his surprise at Apple's request saying, "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."

While it's easy to understand Durov's surprise, the emoji's used in Apple's ecosystem are the company's own designs, and it likely took issue with a drastic re-imagining due to copyright laws.

Durov believed that it was, "good for Telegram long term," as the company can now make, "Telemoji even more unique and recognizable".

The update also included 10 more emoji packs and the ability for users to create their own emoji's.

Talking about the update Durov said that, "It was an interesting engineering challenge to ensure that hundreds of vector-based emoji with smooth animations could simultaneously play on the screen of any mobile phone," and that, "Telegram is the first company ever to have implemented this in a mobile app".