BotNews

We've refreshed Botfather's interface, adding two new commands: /mybots and /mygames. The new interface is based on inline buttons and will keep your chat with Botfather neat and tidy.

We're also adding status alerts for developers of popular bots today. If your bot is getting on the order of 300 requests per minute, Botfather will now contact you if it becomes less responsive than usual. (Make sure it's the real Botfather, look for the 'verified' badge).

Read more about status alerts:
https://core.telegram.org/bots#status-alerts

Introducing the new Gaming Platform. As of today, your bot can offer HTML5 games – anything from simple puzzles and arcades to multiplayer 3D-shooters and real-time strategy games.

Read the blog announcement:
https://telegram.org/blog/games

Check out our introduction to Games:
https://core.telegram.org/bots/games

Also in this update:

- You can now specify an HTTP URL for a file in all methods where InputFile or file_id can be used. Telegram will get the file from the specified URL and send it to the user.
- Added a new method for checking current webhook status.
- Added a detailed guide to webhooks:
https://core.telegram.org/bots/webhooks
- And more.

See the full changelog:
https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#recent-changes

And it's up again. All good! Be sure to ping bot support if you're still having issues.

Stay tuned for cool updates coming very soon!

A DDoS attack on the Bot API is in progress. Hang on tight, we're fighting back.

Inline keyboards may now be used in groups and are coming to channels soon. Check out our @vote and @like bots for some examples.

More about inline keyboards:
https://core.telegram.org/bots#inline-keyboards-and-on-the-fly-updating

Bot API v.2.1. is here. We've added support for edited messages and new mentions from Telegram 3.9., and introduced a handful of new methods for group administrator bots.

Your bot can now get a list of administrators in a group, know how many members there are in a group and check a user's current status (administrator, creator, left the group, kicked from the group).

If a group starts getting on your bot's nerves, the bot can now leave it using the new leaveChat method.

Check out the full changelog here:
https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#recent-changes

Recent updates:

- Added consistency to what messages bots get in groups and supergroups.
https://core.telegram.org/bots/faq#what-messages-will-my-bot-get

- Bots can now get the relevant emoji for a sticker.
https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#recent-changes

#BotTip If you created a cool bot and would like to get a better username, ping us at @BotSupport. We love bot developers, and we don't like squatters here.

Just make sure you already have a working bot worthy of the name. 😎

Good news, everyone!

Your bot can win a grant of $25K or more this year. Pavel Durov will be giving away 1 million dollars to bot developers in 2016.

Check this post for details:
https://telegram.org/blog/botprize

Check out these cool sample bots to see where this is going:
@music – find and share public domain classical music
@sticker – find and share stickers based on emoji input
@foursquare – find and share venues near you
@youtube – connect your youtube account and share personalized videos

Today we're introducing the biggest change to Telegram's Bot Platform since June 2015. The Bot API 2.0 includes:

- New inline keyboards with callback and URL buttons
- On-the-fly updating for messages
- Switch to PM/inline buttons
- 15 new types of content for inline bots
- Location and phone number permission requests
- Group management methods
- And more

These new tools will help you create fluid and intuitive interfaces and extremely powerful bots.

Read the blog announcement:
https://telegram.org/blog/bots-2-0

Check out our detailed introduction to Bot API 2.0:
https://core.telegram.org/bots/2-0-intro

See the full changelog:
https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#recent-changes

And stay tuned for more updates coming your way!

The Bot API now supports silent notifications. We've added an optional disable_notification parameter to all sending-related methods.
https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#available-methods

Please note that only users with updated apps will receive the message silently. iOS users will not receive a notification, Android users will receive a notification with no sound. Coming soon to other apps.

We forgot to announce this, but you can use either HTML-style or markdown-style formatting in your bot's messages to get italic, bold or fixed-width text and inline links.

See this section for details:
https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#formatting-options

You can now build accurate ratings and charts for content shared via your inline bot.

Simply send /setinlinefeedback to @BotFather to receive updates on which of the results provided by your bot got chosen by its users.

To give just one example, you could use this data to return the top-10 most popular results when a user first types your bot's username in the input field (i.e., as an answer to an empty request).

More info here:
https://core.telegram.org/bots/inline#collecting-feedback
This update:
https://core.telegram.org/bots/api#recent-changes

Good news for bot builders! With today's release of our iOS, Android and Desktop apps, people will have a new way of contacting your bot: right from the text input field. Works in any cloud chat, the bot doesn't need to be a member.

This means you can now provide users with content to send to their friends (@gif, @vid, @pic, @wiki, @imdb) or transform their input (@bold) – and who knows what else you'll come up with.

Check out our Intro to Inline Bots for more info:
https://core.telegram.org/bots/inline

Stay tuned for more updates here on #BotNews.

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