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There’s no denying the fact that Telegram became as popular as it is because of its focus on privacy. The service not only provides end-to-end encryption on the server-side of the things but also allows users to lock their chats. This is great for safeguarding your personal chats when you are handing out your device to anyone else. Banned: How PFI morphed into a stridently militant outfit over 3 decadesPremium Under the App Icon section, you should see a handful of pre-defined app icons such as Aqua, Sunset, Mono Black, Classic, Classic Black, Filled, and Filled Black. Now, choose a suitable app icon and you are all set!

The aforementioned secret chats are where you can take part in end-to-end encrypted messaging with a contact. But that’s not its only benefit: Secret chats also don’t allow a person forward messages from there or take screenshots. Of course, someone could take a picture of the screen with another device, but it’s still discouraged, and it’s bolstered by another feature: self-destruct timers. With the latest updates, Telegram also allows users to have multiple accounts. This is great for people like me who like to keep their work and personal accounts separate. To add a new account, tap on the arrow beside your name and tap on Add Account. Unlimited personal cloud storage Possibly the biggest disadvantage Telegram has over more popular messages is simply that: popularity. Despite its hundreds of millions of fans, Telegram is still leagues behind WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and WeChat in active monthly users.

Telegram comes with some customization options absent from many of its competitors where you can choose the dominant app color, how the app opens links, whether or not the UI shows animations, and more. There is also chatbot integration where you can make use of bots to improve the experience. You can even create your own themes, bots, and full apps using the Telegram API. Over the years, Telegram has built up an extensive bot ecosystem that adds even more functionality to the app. A great way to organize your chats inside a group or channel is by using hashtags. When you use a hashtag in a message, that word becomes searchable allowing you to see all the messages relating to that topic. For example, if the group is discussing the new Avengers movie, everyone can use the Avengers hashtag. If you want to see all the messages in one location, you can just tap on the hashtag and all the messages with that hashtag will come up. Telegram allows you to schedule messages to be sent at a particular time. Further, you can also send ‘silent’ messages without sound when you do not want to disturb the receiver. This can be ideal when you want to send your boss a message, while you know he/she is in a meeting or when you want to send a friend something important when they’re out with their family. In some countries, Sponsored Messages are shown in large, public one-to-many channels. These minimalist, privacy-conscious s help support Telegram's operating costs, but will no longer appear for subscribers of Telegram Premium.

Improved Chat Previews on Android On the same page, Telegram also lists one of its two tenets of internet privacy as “protecting your personal data from third parties, such as marketers, advertisers, etc.” That puts it in stark contrast to a myriad of services from Facebook, Google, Amazon, and others.