The encrypted messaging platform Telegram often sees its popularity soar whenever at that place’south a
WhatsApp outage
or a major change to
WhatsApp’s privacy policy.
In that location are plenty of
WhatsApp alternatives
for those who want to break free of Facebook’s ecosystem and Telegram is one of the more popular choices. Back in 2020, Telegram’s founder, Pavel Durov, revealed that the messaging platform had nearly 500 million active users and every bit information technology stands now, there are over 700 million monthly agile users
(opens in new tab).
While more than users is a good thing for the platform, what matters is that Telegram is 1 of the best encrypted messaging apps, offering a cross-platform, cloud-based distributed messaging service with no ads. Keep in heed though that in many cases, Telegram itself tin read your messages.
Telegram is like to Apple tree’southward Messages simply it has dedicated apps for all platforms – PC, Mac, Linux, Android and iOS – and information technology besides allows you lot to prepare upwardly secret chats with messages that can self-destruct afterwards a prepare corporeality of time, giving you a new level of privacy.
Telegram is not as secure equally you might retrieve
Telegram has come under scrutiny by security experts who say its cryptography is untested and not secure enough to be used by political dissidents or other people transmitting highly sensitive information. Nonetheless, to date, no one has figured out how to pause Telegram's encryption.
Many experts recommend using Signal or WhatsApp instead as both employ the Signal protocol for their encryption. The main departure between Bespeak and Telegram is that Telegram’s text chats are non terminate-to-terminate encrypted by default. Chats on both other platforms are.
This ways that Telegram can read your letters and could peradventure have to paw them over post-obit a asking to do and so by police force enforcement. While Telegram is legally based in London, it also has some operations in Dubai.
Telegram’s 1-to-1 voice and video calls are both end-to-cease encrypted but its group voice chats are not.
How to install Telegram
Installing and using Telegram is very easy. Hither’south a unproblematic step-past-step guide:
1. Download the Telegram app
- iPhone and iPad
(opens in new tab) - Android
(opens in new tab) - Windows Telephone
(opens in new tab)
(yeah, even Windows Phone!) - Windows
(opens in new tab) - Linux 64-bit
(opens in new tab); Linux 32-fleck
(opens in new tab) - macOS
(opens in new tab)
; Mac App Shop version
(opens in new tab) - Chrome browser extension
(opens in new tab) - You can also utilise the web version
(opens in new tab).
Note: Before using the desktop versions of Telegram, you have to gear up information technology up using a mobile app.
2. Annals your phone number
Immediately later on you do this, Telegram will ship your phone an SMS text message containing a code for number verification. If yous don't enter the verification code inside three minutes, Telegram volition phone call your phone.
iii. Enter the SMS verification code
The Telegram app will take a field into which you input the SMS verification code.
4. Telegram may call your telephone instead
A robotic voice will read out a 5-digit code, which yous can then enter into the app.
5. Enter your display proper name
Telegram requires that you give it at least a first name but this doesn't accept to be your existent first name equally it serves as a display proper name. However, your display name isn't your username and others tin't apply it to find your account. If they do want to find your business relationship, they would need to search for you by your username instead.
Unfortunately, you lot can't simply type in a telephone number and start messaging. You lot'll need to grant Telegram permission to access your contacts earlier you can bulletin anyone. Yet, people who are not in your contacts can still invite you to Telegram chats.
7. (Optional) Let Telegram admission your files and lockscreen
Telegram volition enquire you lot to let it access your photos, media and files so that you tin can use the app to send photos and other files. It likewise wants to access your lockscreen and then it can evidence you incoming calls.
You can pass on both these options, simply Telegram will be a lot more useful if you don't.
eight. (Recommended) Set a separate Telegram PIN
Telegram doesn't require yous to create a password or Pin to utilize the app. Just unlocking your phone will be enough to gain access to the Telegram app and your account.
That's a trouble if someone else gets access to your phone and can unlock it. To protect your Telegram account, ready a carve up four-digit PIN.
Go to the "hamburger" menu in the top left corner of the app and select Settings > Privacy & Security > Passcode Lock.
Yous'll have to enter the Pivot, ahem, "passcode," periodically to go along using Telegram, just you lot tin can change the amount of fourth dimension before the passcode entry is required.
Simply be forewarned that if yous forget the PIN, yous'll have to delete the Telegram app and showtime over once more. Cloak-and-dagger Chats will be lost; non-Secret chats that are stored on Telegram's servers should exist retrievable.
nine. (Optional) Add together ii-step verification
You can also prepare up Telegram to require an alphanumeric countersign every fourth dimension you log in on a new device. (Note: This is non the same matter as ii-factor authentication and doesn't provide the same amount of protection.)
Go to the "hamburger" bill of fare in the top left corner and select Settings > Privacy & Security > Two-Step Verification. Then ready upwardly Two-Step Verification in the same Privacy & Security section.
You'd improve write down that password, considering if you forget it, you lot'll exist limited to using Telegram on just 1 device.
Now that you've ready Telegram on your telephone, yous can besides install and use it on Windows
(opens in new tab), macOS, Linux, ChromeOS or on a desktop the desktop web browser.
All you need is your telephone number and the phone that number's connected to in gild to receive the SMS verification lawmaking.
How to use Telegram
Using Telegram to ship a message is as easy every bit selecting a contact and starting to write.
Offset a Telegram ane-on-one conversation
Click on the new bulletin button (the pencil), select a contact, and start writing.
Past default, all communications are encrypted between your device and Telegram's servers, then between Telegram's servers and your contact, but Telegram will exist able to read your conversations.
Start a Telegram grouping conversation
You can also create a new group conversation by clicking on New Grouping and selecting multiple contacts from your contact list. Groups can contain up to 200,000 members, but they cannot be end-to-terminate encrypted. Anything said in a Group conversation can exist read by Telegram.
Telegram also offers voice and video chats for groups.
Start a Telegram Undercover Chat
Telegram has the ability to set upwardly Cloak-and-dagger Chats with your friends.
To get-go a Hole-and-corner Chat, tap the pencil icon, then tap New Hugger-mugger Chat. Then select the contact with whom you lot'd similar to accept a Hush-hush Conversation.
A Underground Chat matches the privacy and security of WhatsApp or Signal because the communications are fully encrypted from ane device to the other, and Telegram will not be able to read your conversations.
Your telephone screenshot functionality volition be disabled during Secret Chats, and messages send during Secret Chats cannot be forwarded to other users. You besides tin't admission a Hush-hush Conversation on a device dissimilar from the 1 you started information technology on.
(Optional) Set Secret Chats to cocky-destruct
Click on the 3-dot bill of fare on the top right corner of the Underground Chat screen to set up a self-destruct timer.
This means that every bulletin you send during a Hole-and-corner Chat will have an expiration time before it disappears from the conversation. The timer tin can exist set from annihilation from one 2nd to 1 calendar week.
Bring together a Telegram aqueduct
Channels are like radio stations, broadcasting messages from a single source to an unlimited number of Telegram subscribers to those channels. However, yous tin't respond to channel messages the way you could to a message circulate on Twitter or Facebook.
Channels - which tin can be public or private - can circulate text, photos, videos, files and podcasts. They can also host mass voice group chats, akin to Clubhouse. In add-on to massive voice chats, channels can as well exist used for alive streams with unlimited viewers.
To subscribe to a public Telegram channel, tap the magnifying-drinking glass icon at the elevation of the Telegram home page, then blazon in the name of the channel yous're looking for.
Select the right search consequence, and y'all'll be shown a preview of the latest posts to that channel. If it looks highly-seasoned to you, tap "Join" at the lesser of the screen.
Kickoff a Telegram channel
It's just as piece of cake to start a Telegram channel equally it is to start a chat. Just tap the pencil icon on the abode screen and and then tap "New Aqueduct."
Y'all'll have to requite your new channel a name and can provide an optional description.
Then you decide whether your channel is private or public. If it'southward public, any Telegram user can search for it by name; if it'due south private, you'll exist given a link that you tin can sent to people who you want to invite.
Telegram itself doesn't post lists of public Telegram channels, only you can use Google to find some. Here are a couple
(opens in new tab)
of lists
(opens in new tab).
Starting time a Telegram vox or video call
Similar WhatsApp, Telegram lets you make voice and video calls. Go to the "hamburger" menu on the top left, tap Contacts and select someone from your contact listing.
Tap that contact, then tap the iii vertical dots on the superlative of the resulting screen and select either Call or Video Call.
If you haven't already given Telegram permission to take pictures and tape audio and video, now's the time.
Other cool Telegram features
The app has other privacy features. From the Settings carte du jour you can choose to delete whatever payment or shipping information sent in all conversations you accept.
The app also has an selection to destroy your business relationship and all associated data if yous don’t use it in more than six months — in case y'all forget to practice it yourself. You tin change that to one month, three months or a year.
Any message, from any time, tin exist "unsent" past either the sender or the recipient. The message volition be deleted from both the sender's and the receiver's phone.
An "anonymous forwarding" selection makes sure, when enabled, that simply your proper name is displayed if anyone forwards your messages. The name volition not link back to your business relationship.
There’s a lot more to learn, including customization of notifications for groups, channels and private chats; font size, backgrounds, list mode and color themes for chats; and night mode, emojis and animations. All of those are in the Settings menu.
There's just too much to become into hither, but at present that nosotros've given you the basics, try Telegram and have fun. (Antivirus maker Kaspersky has a long list of additional Telegram privacy options
(opens in new tab).) Just be aware that it'south not as private as Signal or WhatsApp until you turn on the Secret Chat mode.
Now y'all've mastered Telegram, why not buff upwardly on your knowledge of other conversation apps? Go started by learning how to use the WhatsApp Android widget to go along a low profile and avert read receipts.
