Since the advent of the internet, chat applications have been around to talk privately, discuss topics of common interest, or simply to keep in touch. When the mobile internet became wide spread, mobile instant messengers followed. While there were others paving the way, WhatsApp was one of the big success stories that opened the market. Others followed quickly, and a niche of privacy-focused messengers emerged. I recently reported on the TeleGuard messenger that is relatively new, and maximizes the privacy focus, although it’s not that wide spread. In this article, I will discuss another rather popular messenger – Telegram: A private messenger for the masses.
Ranking third in the Apple app store (Social Networking), Telegram attracts many users as the go-to privacy-minded alternative to other popular messengers like WhatsApp or the Facebook Messenger. It offers intriguing features that are more privacy focused and helps users maintain a degree of anonymity. Learn below what makes Telegram stand out. This article looks at the Telegram iOS app, specifically. Features on the Android app or on desktop may vary, but you should get a general idea after reading the below.
Introduction to Telegram
The messenger itself features all functionality found in most modern messengers: 1-to-1 messaging, group chats, secret chats, self-destroying messages, and sharing of media files (images, video, audio, voice). Telegram comes with another fun feature though: Location based user search, which we will look into in a bit.
Telegram is available for all major mobile and desktop platforms: Windows (also portable), mac OS, Linux, but also on the iOS and Android app stores.
History of Telegram
The Telegram messenger was launched in August 2013 by the brothers Nikolai and Pavel Durov. The Durovs previously founded the Russian social network VKontakte (VK), but left the company after it was taken over by Mail.ru Group. End-to-end encryption and self-destroying messages greatly helped its adoption. Its focus on speed and security were major drivers, too. The result of multi-year-long developments and community engagements resulted in the messenger I want to present you today: Telegram: A Private Messenger for the Masses.
Setting up your Account
Getting started with Telegram is not at all difficult. You will need to start with a client app on your mobile device (see above) as Telegram requires a phone number attached to your account. Without one, you cannot open an account. You might be tempted to use temporary phone number services online, but beware: The phone number used to set up the account can be used to take it over. If you want to use Telegram, use an actual phone number that only you control.
Once you installed the app on your phone (or tablet), you’re asked to enter and confirm your phone number, after which you can set your name and profile picture:
Telegram will send you a text (or call you) to verify your phone number. Again, without this information, it won’t let you create an account. This is all the basic information Telegram needs from you to get started. Once you are done you can start using the messaging app.
Basic Features
As noted above, Telegram offers all the messaging feature you’re used to from other messaging apps. You can send messages to your contacts (identified by their phone number), select fine-grained notification settings, and edit your profile. You can start a group chat, or a “channel” that other users can join as a public forum for discussion.
One notable detail here is that you can set a username for your account. This is basically a handle that other users can refer to you by. This means, they can add you as a contact without using your phone number – you can keep your real number private. Make sure to adjust your privacy settings accordingly, as otherwise your phone number becomes visible to them if you save their contact on your phone.
Groups, Contacts, Channels
In Telegram, you can stay in touch with your peers in different ways. You can direct message them to engage in 1:1 chats, but can also talk in groups or publish to channels. Channels are the equivalent to posts on other platforms, and other users can subscribe to your channel to receive your updates. There are influencers and merketing accounts using this feature to advertise new content, but also groups raising awreness of non-business topics.
Talking to Random Strangers
When you start composing a new message and choose a contact, you can not only use the search field for finding your friends. You can find any public username/handle this way and can text random strangers with that. In many cases, you can see their profile picture and bio as well. Use this feature responsibly, as when you message too many strangers (or they report you), your account may become limited for a couple of days. This means that you can only message your already established contacts.
Checking if (and for how long) your Account has been Limited
In case you were reported or Telegram limits your account for other reasons, you can only communicate with already existing contacts (that you’ve messages with before). Messages to new users just won’t go through. If you suspect that this is the case, you have an easy way of finding out. You can ask @spambot what the status of your account is. Just open a conversation with this bot, and it will guide you through the different options it offers.
Usually an account limitation is lifted after a few days (Spambot will tell you when), but in more severe cases you may be limited indefinitely. This ban applies to the phone number you signed up with, so be careful with how you use the service.
Location-based Contact Search
You can not only find new contacts via their public usernames. Telegram offers a location-based user search that shows you people (if they opted in to the feature) and public groups around you.
By default, this feature is off. You can only access this if you allowed Telegram to access your contact list (at least once per account). Otherwise the button to access it just won’t be there. Once you can access the feature (and allows access to your GPS location), you see a list of accounts that opted in around you. You only see the 100 people closest to you, and the location accuracy is limited to some 200m. This has been more granular some time ago, but with the rise of tools like the Telegram Nearby Map or the Telegram Locator the accuracy was limited to preserve user privacy and safety. Telegram being a private messenger for the masses, this is a vital measure to make sure you’re staying safe on the platform.
Opted in users usually include local services that set up their business in Telegram, or strangers that are open to connect and chat with other locals or travellers. Beware of scams though, as custom Telegram clients sometimes fake the location of the user. Never agree to any anonymous payment to strangers you’ve never met before.
Find local Groups
Besides locals willing to connect, you can find groups created around you. These usually include community groups for your local city, or groups of interest to gather and discuss. These groups can be fun to engage with, but often suffer from random ad postings. Groups are usually (at least temporarily) closed by Telegram if users start posting NSFW content. If you open a group, you may want to enable moderation features for this reason. Being able to effectively and safely communicate with people you know personally and strangers alike makes Telegram the messenger for the masses it is today.
Storage and Connection, Privacy Settings, And More
Inside the Telegram settings panel, you can see a variety of stats and options to configure. First off, you can see how much data Telegram stores on your phone. You can also see how much data is being transfered through Cellular or WiFi, and configure if and how these connections should be used or not. This is great for preserving your mobile data allowance. Moreover, you can decide which sources can store photos in your camera roll automatically (you won’t want ALL public group photos downloaded automatically). You can configure this setting per contact, too. If you require it, here you can also configure a proxy server Telegram should use.
In Settings, you can also access Telegram’s Privacy and Security section. Here you manage which users you blocked in the past (and can unblock them), how you sign in, and how to handle auto deletion of messages. You can also choose what data other users see by default. Be sure to visit this section and customize it to your needs, as the defaults are very revealing.
Besides the above, you can configure the notification settings of the app. This makes Telegram even more a private messenger for the masses. This applies to outside of app and in-app notifications. Also which details to show in notifications ouside the app, and what to count in the app’s badge counter. This allows you to tailor its behavior to your personal needs pretty well.
Power Safe Mode
As with all apps, regular and intensive use can drain your battery pretty quickly. Telegram offers settings for managing the app’s behavior when you’re under a given (configurable) threshld of battery level.
This includes whether it should auto-play videos, GIFs, sticker animations etc. You can also set whether it is allowed to act in the background to keep your data up to date. The defaults are shown above, and they are very allowing. Configure this to your needs if you want to preserve your battery longer.
Telegram Passport
Starting out as a mere instant messenger, Telegram offers more beyond exchanging memes with your loved ones. In late 2014, the messaging service introduced Telegram Passport, an ID verification method for signing into other services. You upload your ID document(s) and Telegram stores them on their server in an encrypted form. Your document data is end-to-end encrypted. When you use it to authenticate yourself with other services, it is decrypted on-device and is forwarded to those services.
One notable example of a service accepting identification via Telegram Passport is ePayments. There likely are more, and this greatly eases your sign-in experience for authenticated services while preserving your privacy.
If you are a developer and want to use Telegram Passport, the service has an extensive API reference available here.
Telegram Bots
One of Telegram’s most popular features for developers and businesses are bots. Many other messenger services strictly forbid or restrict their use. In Telegram, bots are first class citizens on Telegram, and their use is explicitly allowed and supported on the platform. Bots can be deployed by anyone signed up for a developer account and with an app ID.
One example of a bot is mentioned above (@spambot), but your imagination is the limit. Companies and individuals have deployed bots from chat bots to crypto currency trading bots to shopping assistants. You can deploy your bot publicly or use it just privately. There is an extensive API for how to operate and develop bots. Telegram also maintains a list of libraries for various programming languages to interface with their APIs. This flexibility for developers adds to making Telegram a true private messenger for the masses.
Customizing Telegram’s Appearance
Above showcased various features the iOS Telegram app (or the service in general) has to offer. If you want to tailor the app to your personal liking more, you have various customization options available, too. This includes changing what the app looks like (including light/dark themes), text sizes etc. To better organize your messaging threads, you can also introduce folders to not clutter your inbox.
Conclusion
Telegram may not be as privacy focused as TeleGuard. It still offers solid options for staying safe and keeping your data private. The message self destruction feature isn’t enabled by default. If you want this feature you’ll need to turn it on manually. Besides that, all data is end-to-end encrypted (except your contact list, Telegram knows whom you know). The messenger is pretty wide spread, so it is a good compromise between security and convenience. Make sure to try it if you are looking for a new way to stay connected to your peers. Give Telegram: A Private Messenger for the Masses a go!
If you want, share your thoughts on the above or discuss your own experiences. Comment below to get the conversation started!