They were removed in 2024, with Durov saying that they had had « issues with bots and scammers ». Reactions were first added to Telegram in 2021 and expanded to include more emoji options for Premium users. Telegram comes with one default sticker pack, and users can install additional sticker packs provided by third-party contributors. Telegram introduced affiliate programs in December 2024 that allow developers to create an affiliate program for their bot or mini app. Interfaces can be adjusted to match the app’s theme even if it changes while interacting with the bot. In April 2022, bots gained support for customized interfaces and inline page loading.

Servers

  • They criticized how, unless modified first, the default general security model stores all contacts, messages and media together with their decryption keys on its servers continuously; and that it does not enable end-to-end encryption for messages by default.
  • There were moments when I used the phone number login method and didn’t receive the verification code.
  • Bots power Telegram’s gaming platform, which utilizes HTML5, so games are loaded on-demand as needed, like ordinary webpages.
  • On 8 January 2021, Pavel announced in a blog post that Telegram had reached « about 500 million » monthly active users.
  • The company says this is done « to protect the data that is not covered by end-to-end encryption ».
  • Specific users can be tagged in the group by adding @username to a message, where « username » is that particular user’s username.

On 26 April 2023, Telegram was temporarily suspended in Brazil and fined R$1 million (2023) (US$185,528.76) per day for not complying with a Federal Police investigation into neo-Nazi activities on the platform. In response to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights call to prevent such abuse, Telegram reportedly banned 13 accounts related to or supporting the Myanmar military. In France, initial investigations of a terrorist act revealed the perpetrators used Telegram to communicate, though follow-up research suggested that the extent of the app’s use was « unclear ». 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.

What Are the Key Features of Telegram?

Far-right and white supremacist communities on Telegram have spread videos of the Christchurch and Halle shootings in groups and channels after the original livestreams were taken down by Twitch. The company only partially fulfilled a court request for personal data on two antisemitic Telegram groups, which authorities considered an intentional lack of cooperation. After the 2021 coup d’état in Myanmar, the junta used Telegram channels to spread propaganda and organize misinformation campaigns against pro-democracy groups. In 2023, Saudi Arabia’s Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology (Etidal) reported Kiekka Casino that in collaboration with Telegram, over 59 million pieces of extremist content had been removed from the platform since 2022.

Bot abuse

The ban applied to non-U.S.-based purchasers as well, because Telegram could not prevent the re-sale of Grams to U.S. citizens on a secondary market, as the anonymity of users was one of the key features of TON. Ads from Telegram’s « Sponsored Messages » platform began to appear in channels with more than 1000 followers in October 2021. Premium users get access to additional settings, like instant chat translation, and the ability to restrict who can send them text and voice messages.

Navigating the Interface After Your Telegram Web Login

  • Once launched, a group voice chat will remain active and open to all group members until an admin specifically closes it.
  • This « Standalone Operation » means you can send and receive messages even if your phone is turned off or has no internet connection.
  • For users who signed in from the European Economic Area (EEA) or United Kingdom, the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) are supported by storing data only on servers in the Netherlands, and designating a London-based company as their responsible data controller.
  • You can open any conversation, send messages, upload files, use stickers, and view your chat history just as you would in the mobile or desktop versions.
  • To use Telegram, a user must sign up with their phone number or an anonymous +888 number purchased from the Fragment blockchain platform.
  • In June 2021, an update introduced a new bot menu where users can browse and send commands while in a chat with a bot.

There is a distributed network of data centers through which messages are sent, so delivery is almost instant, even between devices. Its client side is open-source, and it has public APIs, meaning developers, communities, and regular users can mold the platform in any way they want to. It provides one-on-one conversations, big groups, and channels that can be seen by unlimited audiences, and secret conversations that leave the messages on the device only.

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. In October 2014, South Korean government surveillance plans drove many of its citizens to switch to Telegram from the Korean app KakaoTalk. Users can use Telegram’s transparency bot to check how many legal requests from their country it has processed.

The phone does not require being connected to desktop applications, as is the case with other messaging applications. Individuals who do not want to install an app can make use of Telegram Web, which mirrors cloud messages in real-time. Simply said, Telegram has numerous options to choose from, and users choose the extent to which they would explore each of them. This allows the user to move between phones, tablets, computers, or web versions without having the worry of making backups.
This makes it a quick and adaptable solution that operates seamlessly across various devices and work environments. In today’s multi-device world, having a reliable web-based client is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity. Ever found yourself needing access to your Telegram account while your phone’s battery is dead or out of reach? WhatsApp is also one of the most popular messaging applications in the world, and it is the default in most parts of the world. Communication is fully encrypted end-to-end, and the app is not dependent on any cloud servers.