My new favorite messenger for sure

I love nearly everything about Telegram, there are many pros and few cons with the app. Keep in mind that Im also somewhat comparing to Skype and Discord; the pros and cons here are the things Telegram does better than or worse than those other two messaging apps. Or maybe Telegram does something uniquely and Im either a fan or I suggest some potential change if possible.
-I really like the stickers and how you can add your own and make it how you want it.
-I also like being able to delete the messages for yourself if wanted. (And the extensive times to edit or delete messages for everyone)
Some other things I like include:
-the capability of bolding and italicizing without the use of extra characters on mobile.
-the overall simple layout.
-the checks that a message has been sent and read.
-the online/offline timestamps, though I do wish it could be changed easier.
-being able to look at the shared media in a group.
-the secret chats, though perhaps there could be a way to sync those messages across sessions? Unless its not meant to be that way. (I also like the timer feature-)
-pinning messages.
-the feature that syncs messages across all sessions. (Including the full message history being backed up and synced(?))
-the reply feature, its very helpful.
-the backgrounds for chats, theyre amazing, though perhaps there could be some feature allowing specific backgrounds for specific chats?
-being able to scroll through the photos
-the link previews and being able to choose whether or not you want it in, I really like this feature, it can save space if needed. Also being able to watch videos without going to the link! Watching them in the app is amazing!

Though, like I said, there are a few cons. I do have my gripes with the other two messaging apps as well. I will suggest fixes to the gripes I have and also offer suggestions for features that I personally wouldnt mind seeing in the future.

-I do wish the contacts were not so heavily required on mobile devices. I have two separate groups of friends and I prefer to keep it that way. So, instead of going for your contact list in your phone, perhaps youd be able to form your own out of the contacts or other friends you find? Im going after the kind of thing that Skype does with its contacts, where you can find your own and make your own list out it, set favorites and whatnot. Overall, this is probably my biggest gripe with Telegram.
I just wish that permission to access phone contacts was not required; I would like to be able to form my own list without having my own contacts suggested to me.

-I wish there was a sort of status message that could be added and viewed by contacts or everyone and isnt as permanent as the bio message. Something more like an occasional update message perhaps?

-something that I like about Discord is the ability to have channels with the same person. I wouldnt call this a con on Telegrams part, but it may be able to clean some things up and reduce the amount of chats that are open in the list. Simply a suggestion.

-an idea Ive always liked is being able to customize the interface a bit, such as changing the tabs at the bottom around. Nothing major, but Ive just imagined what it might be like being able to change the order. (Perhaps the same could be done for stickers? Being able to change the order of the sticker packs youve downloaded could be helpful)

Im not sure I can think of any more potential improvements, but hopefully some of my ideas may be taken into consideration. Id give Telegram a 4.9 star (rounded up to 5 :P) rating simply because not everything is perfect, there will be flaws with every app no matter where you go, but Telegram is one of my favorites for sure and I really appreciate it. Thank you.

ARSCON about Telegram Messenger, v4.2.1