Power features like Channels, Polls, and Telegram Bots allow a level of customization and interaction beyond most standard messengers. The desktop version also syncs seamlessly with mobile, ensuring continuity and consistency across devices. The post included betzino casino a screenshot showing an internal email sent by the App Store to developers, demanding the takedown of content related to Navalny. Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh called the block and the deletion of the tactical voting app from app stores “censorship … imposed by private companies”. Hundreds of pages of a group chat between Rosselló and members of his staff were leaked. Andriy Kovalenko, head of the security council’s centre on countering disinformation, clarified that the ban was limited to official devices and did not extend to personal phones.
- In April 2025, Telegram launched secure group calls with end-to-end encryption by using blockchain-like encryption technology.
- Premium users get access to additional settings, like instant chat translation, and the ability to restrict who can send them text and voice messages.
- It asks users to upload their own official documents such as passport, identity card, driver license, etc.
- Messages users send and receive are tied to their numbers and custom usernames, not the device.
- These platforms also enable businesses to add Telegram chat widget to their websites and gives them the option to automate conversations or let human agents reply.
- Telegram Messenger LLP has servers in a number of countries throughout the world to improve the response time of their service.
Telegram Group Bot
Channels offer detailed statistics on view counts, user growth and interactions, also visible only to admins. Channels are one-way feeds where the channel owner or admins can post content while followers can only read, react and comment, if comments have been enabled. Groups and channels also support polls, which can be open or anonymous and can support multiple choices. Ownership of channels and groups can be transferred to one of the admins if the owner wishes to give up their rights. Secret Chats support perfect forward secrecy and switch encryption keys after a key has been used 100 times or a week has passed. Users have the option to start a one-on-one, end-to-end-encrypted “Secret Chat”, which remains accessible only on the device on which it started and self-destructs upon logging out.
What is Telegram?
Forwarded messages also maintain reply formatting, able to show which messages in a thread are replying to others. Users can schedule messages to send at a particular time or when their conversation partner comes online, as well as choose to send a message “without sound” without a notification. Some stickers feature full-screen effects that play out when first sent or when tapped. Phone numbers are hidden by default, with only a user’s contacts able to see them.
Video
The accounts were extracted from not Telegram but an unofficial version of Telegram, in what appears to be a possibly government-sanctioned fork. Security company Group-IB suggested SS7 mobile signalling protocol weaknesses, illegal usage of surveillance equipment, or telecom insider attacks. The Telegram team tweeted that it was either because the user had malware or they were not using two-step verification. The hypothesis is that either mobile devices were hacked by SIM swap or the targets’ computers were compromised.
It allows you to send messages, photos, videos and files of all types. With seamless cross-device syncing, generous file-sharing limits, and customizable features, it excels in flexibility and efficiency. The desktop app runs efficiently even on low-end hardware, consuming minimal system resources and offering stable performance. Animated stickers, emojis, and chat backgrounds add personality without clutter.
arrest of Pavel Durov
Learn to manage your tuition with guides to making a payment, accessing your account summary, viewing charges and adding authorized payers. Learn to manage your myNOVA account by finding your username, resetting your password and how to login. Learn how to access your academic records, get advising, manage your class enrollment, and payment with SIS. SIS gives you the ability to search and register for classes, drop a class, access your records, make payments and manage your personal information. These applications have been designed and developed by RIT Students in partnership with ITS.
ISIS has used Telegram for recruiting attempts with some cells recommending the app to their followers. Moldovan president Maia Sandu denounced that Telegram refused any collaboration with the Moldovan state authorities against illegal activities taking place in its platform such as vote buying. In March 2021, Telegram launched a bonds offering to cover the debt and fund further growth of the app. The company agreed to pay an $18.5 million penalty and return $1.22 billion to Gram purchasers.
Secret Chats restrict screenshotting by Android devices and warn when one is taken on an iOS device, while also hiding the chat contents from the final image. Any user can also send a message to a special “Saved Messages” chat as a form of bookmarking them. Sticker packs are made by Telegram designers as well as regular users and can be shared via links. As users can be logged into many devices at once, starting to type a message on one of them will create a “cloud draft” that syncs with others, so that typing can be started on a phone and finished on a laptop, for example. Chats can be exported to preserve them via Telegram’s Desktop client, but the saved data cannot be imported back into the user’s account.
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- Telegram added group voice chats in December 2020 and group video chats in June 2021.
- It took 11 days for the database to be taken down, but the researchers say the data was accessed by other parties, including a hacker who reported the information to a specialized forum.
- Such bots are used, among other things, to emulate and play old games in the app and inform users about vaccine availability for COVID-19.
- Users have the option to start a one-on-one, end-to-end-encrypted “Secret Chat”, which remains accessible only on the device on which it started and self-destructs upon logging out.
- In this Telegram guide for beginners, you’ll learn more about the Telegram Messenger app, its origin, history and how it works.
Both in Secret and regular chats, messages can self-destruct after they are read, disappearing for all parties after a period set by the user, ranging from one day to one year. Users can import chat history, including both messages and media, from WhatsApp, Line, and KakaoTalk due to data portability, making a new chat to hold the messages or adding them to an existing one. Telegram content is synced between users’ logged-in devices automatically through cloud storage, except for device-specific secret chats.
An August 2024 BBC investigation found that Telegram had not responded to requests to join the US–based National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) or the UK–based Internet Watch Foundation, both nonprofit NGOs. In January 2021, North Macedonian media outlets reported that a now-banned Telegram group, “Public Room” (“Јавна соба”), with more than 7,000 members, was used to share nude photos of women and young teenage girls. It also provides an email address dedicated to reports of content related to child abuse. Telegram has been used to distribute illegal pornography, including child pornography.
Telegram for PC
In 2018, Telegram sent a message to all Iranian users stating that the Telegram Talai and Hotgram unofficial clients are not secure. In June 2017, Pavel Durov in an interview said that U.S. intelligence agencies tried to bribe the company’s developers to weaken Telegram’s encryption or install a backdoor during their visit to the U.S. in 2016. Pavel Durov has said that Telegram users in “troubled countries” should enable two-factor authentication by creating passwords in order to prevent this. Telegram’s optional secret chat function, which provides end-to-end encryption, received a score of 7 out of 7 points on the scorecard.
On 26 February 2014, the German consumer organization Stiftung Warentest evaluated several data-protection aspects of Telegram, along with other popular instant-messaging clients. The NDR stated that they had not noticed these ads before, but closed the channel, stating that an advertisement-based accumulation of Toncoin, albeit unsolicited and not withdrawn, was unacceptable for a German public media broadcaster. In August 2025, the German public media broadcaster NDR closed its tagesschau Telegram channel, which published summaries of news stories from the German television news service by the same name. In August 2024, an EU probe was launched into Telegram to determine whether the platform breached EU digital rules by failing to provide accurate user numbers.
All news, reviews, and analysis are produced with journalistic independence and integrity. This means we may receive a commission if you click through and take action—such as signing up for a service or making a purchase. Unlike WhatsApp or Signal, where end-to-end encryption is always on, Telegram won’t automatically provide it. If you prioritize privacy, opting for end-to-end encryption could be a drawback.