This FAQ provides answers to basic questions about Telegram.
Check out our Advanced FAQ for more technical infomation.
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Advanced FAQ
Telegram is like SMS, but more powerful. You can send messages, photos, videos and documents to people who are in your phone contacts (and have Telegram). You can also create groups for up to 200 people.
Unlike WhatsApp, Telegram is cloud-based and heavily encrypted. As a result, you can access your messages from several devices (including desktops!) and share an unlimited number of photos, videos and documents (doc, zip, mp3, etc). Thanks to our multi-data center infrastructure and encryption, Telegram is also faster and way more secure. On top of that, Telegram is free and will stay free — no ads, no subscription fees, forever.
Telegram is supported by Pavel and Nikolai Durov. They also founded VK, the largest European social network. Pavel supports Telegram financially and ideologically, while Nikolai's input is technological. To make Telegram possible, Nikolai developed a unique custom data protocol, which is open, secure and optimized for work with multiple data-centers. As a result, Telegram is the fastest and most secure mass market messaging system in the world.
See also: articles about Telegram
Telegram for iPhone was launched on August 14, 2013. The alpha version of Telegram for Android was officially launched on October 20, 2013. More and more Telegram clients appear, built by independent developers using Telegram's open platform.
Telegram is currently available for iPhones (iOS 5 and above) and Androids (2.2 and up). We support tablets and smartphones alike, as well as iPods (we don't have a dedicated iPad app yet, but Telegram works well on iPads too). There are also unofficial clients, including a web version and desktop apps.
We also have an open API for developers, should you want to build your own applications for other platforms. In the meantime, get your best friends to switch back to iPhones and Androids and use desktop computers.
No.
We believe in fast and secure messaging that is also 100% free. Therefore Telegram is not a commercial project. It is not intended to sell ads, bring revenue or accept outside investment.
If Telegram runs out of money, we'll invite our users to donate or add non-essential paid options.
Yes. Developers for all platforms are welcome to use our protocol, API and even source code.
Telegram is open, anyone can check our source code, protocol and API, see how everything works and make an informed decision. In fact, we welcome security experts to audit our system and would appreciate any feedback (security@telegram.org).
On top of that, Telegram is a nonprofit messenger, so commercial interests will never interfere with our mission.
See also: articles about Telegram
For the moment we are focusing on open sourcing the things that allow developers to quickly build something using our API. We started with Android and Linux, since these platforms are the most open, recently we published the iOS app code as well. We will be releasing more code eventually.
Yes. We will be reinventing our Support Service soon and will be looking for volunteers to enlist in our Support Droid Force. If you would like to help and:
Please don‘t hesitate to contact Markus Ra via Telegram so we can have a chat. (Add the number +42 to your phone contacts; yes, it’s just +42, two digits.) And before you ask — no, he is not the creator of Telegram, he just wrote this FAQ.
For the moment we are working on a feature that will allow you to translate Telegram to your language. Stay tuned for updates. For now Telegram is available in English and Arabic. A Spanish version is ready and will be released soon.
Yes. The official iPhone and Android apps feature Arabic. The Android version also supports Spanish. A Spanish translation for the iPhone is ready and will be released soon. We will be adding other languages as the demand rises.
You can write to people, who are in your phone contacts and have Telegram.
Your contacts, who have Telegram, are shown at the top of your Contacts. They also have pictures.
iPhone: The basic invitations are simple SMS messages. They will be charged as standard outgoing SMS by your carrier (unless sent via iMessage). Naturally, you have other options to bring your friends here. Try sending them a download link via any other messaging service: email, Facebook, WhatsApp, an actual telegram — you name it. The link: http:/telegram.org/dl
Android: Go to Contacts — Invite Friends. Then choose an application via which you would like to send out invitations.
One tick — message sent (and is on our server, waiting for your friend to open Telegram), notification sent (your friend is notified, if he receives notifications).
Two ticks — message read (your friend opened Telegram and opened the conversation that had the message).
iPhone: Start a new message (tap the icon in the top-right corner in Messages). Then ‘New Group’.
Android: Tap the … icon in the top-right corner. Then ‘New Group’.
We ran a contest for Android developers, and two guys reached the finals. The N-edition won — it is now the official app for Android and is just called Telegram. The S-edition scored second and became an unofficial client.
The two developers had the same task and were offered identical design templates. Both versions are being developed, but there are no significant differences in functionality so far, except for some minor distinctions.
If you are an advanced user, you may find our FAQ for the Technically Inclined useful as well.
Telegram is more secure than mass market messengers like WhatsApp and Line. We are based on the MTProto protocol (see description and advanced FAQ), built by our specialists, employing time-tested algorithms, to make security compatible with high speed delivery and reliability. We are continuously working with the community to improve the security of our protocol and clients.
We've got you covered. Telegram’s special secret chats use end-to-end encryption, leave no trace on our servers, support self-destructing messages and don’t allow forwarding. About the only thing secret chats don’t have is cloud storage — they can only be accessed on their devices of origin.
Ok, you asked for it. We support two layers of secure encryption (server-client and client-client). Our encryption is based on 256-bit symmetric AES encryption, RSA 2048 encryption and Diffie–Hellman secure key exchange. You can find more info in the Advanced FAQ.
When it comes to secret chats, you don‘t — just make sure that the visualized key of your secret chat matches the one in your friend’s secret chat settings. More about this below.
Anyone who claims that Telegram messages can be deciphered is welcome to prove that claim in our competition and win $200,000. You can check out the Contest FAQ to learn more.
Comments on Telegram's security outside the scope of the contest are welcome at security@telegram.org
Sure. Check this out.
Well, when it comes to data transfer and secure communication. But please remember that we cannot protect you from your own mother — or any other people that get physical access to your phone.
If you have serious reasons to worry about your personal security, we strongly recommend using only Secret Chats with a self-destruct timer for sensitive information.
Secret chats are meant for people who really want secure messaging. All messages in secret chats use end-to-end encryption. This means only you and the recipient can read those messages — nobody can decipher or intercept them, including us here at Telegram. Messages cannot be forwarded from secret chats. You can also order your messages to self-destruct in a set amount of time after they have been read by the recipient. The message will then disappear from both your and your friend's devices.
One last difference between secret and ordinary chats in Telegram is that secret chats are not stored in our cloud. This means you can only access messages in a secret chat on their device of origin.
Start a new message (tap the icon in the top-right corner in Messages). Then ‘New secret chat’.
Remember that secret chats are device-specific. If you start a secret chat with a friend on one of your devices, this chat will only be available on that device. If you log out, you will also loose all your secret chats. You can create as many different chats with the same contact as you like.
The Self-Destruct Timer in available for Secret Сhats. To set the timer, go to Secret Chat Info (tap the small picture in the top-right corner of the chat screen), then Set Self-Destruct Timer to a desired time limit. The timer is applied to a message the moment it is displayed on the recipient's screen (two green ticks). As soon as the time runs out, the message disappears from both devices and leaves no trace.
When a secret chat is created, the participating devices exchange encryption keys using the so called Diffie-Hellman key exchange. After the secure end-to-end connection has been established, we generate a picture that visualizes the encryption key for your chat. You can then compare this image with the one your friend has — if the two images are the same, you can be sure that the secret chat is secure and no man-in-the-middle attack can possibly succeed.
The important thing to remember is that all Telegram messages are always securely encrypted. The difference between messages in Secret Chats and ordinary Telegram messages is in the encryption type: client-client in case of Secret Chats, client-server/server-client for ordinary chats. This enables your ordinary Telegram messages to be both secure and available in the cloud so that you can access them from any of your devices — which is very useful at times.
We support emoji emoticons. Simply enable the emoji keyboard in your iDevice‘s Settings (General – Keyboards – Add New Keyboard… – Emoji). Then switch to that keyboard whenever you’re out of words.
Not at the moment. However, we like the idea of fast and secure voice messages and calls. Stay tuned for updates.
Not at the moment. We don’t have an invisible mode yet. But we may add it in the future.
Each new phone number is a new Telegram account. So if you change your phone number, you won't be able to access your messages until you relogin. We may add some features later that would let you use multiple numbers, but for now it is not possible.
iPhone: Go to Settings, then Edit, then Log out.
Android: Go to Settings, then Log out.
Remember, that you can use Telegram on multiple devices. If you log out, you don't lose your messages.
If you would like to delete your account, you can do this on the deactivation page. Deleting your account permanently removes all your messages, groups and contacts. This action must be confirmed via your Telegram account and cannot be undone.
We are still working on our apps and will provide additional migration options in future.
As was just mentioned above, all your data will be flushed from our system: all messages, groups and contacts associated with your account will be deleted. That said, your contacts will still be able to chat in the groups that you have created and they will still have their copy of the messages you sent them. So if you want to send messages that can vanish without a trace, try using our self-destruct timer instead.
Termination of a Telegram account is irreversible. If you sign up again, you will appear as a new user and will not get your history or contacts back. People, who have your phone number in their contacts, will be notified. The new user will be a separate conversation in their messages list and their conversation history with this new user will be empty.
Please make sure you are entering your mobile phone number in the international format. I.e.: +(country code)(city or carrier code)(your number).
If you are having registration or login problems, please contact us using this form. Logged in users can write to the number 333 for Support.
iPhone:
Android:
No sound in notifications on Android:
If you can't see your friends, who you know have signed up for Telegram.
iPhone:
Android:
Secret Chats are established between the two devices they were created on. This means that all those messages are not available in the cloud and cannot be accessed on other devices.
Moreover, Secret Chats are also tied to your current login session on the device. If you log out and in again, you will lose all your Secret Chats.
Please make sure Telegram has access to your Photos.
Go to your iPhone's Settings — Privacy, then find Telegram in the list and set in to ON.
iOS 5 users need to enable Telegram in Settings — Location services.
If you have any other questions, do contact Telegram Support (in Telegram go to Settings — Ask a question). If you can't log in to your account, please use this form.
Yessir. Follow us! @telegram
Our twitter account in Spanish: @telegram_es
Our Arabic-speaking users may find @telegram_arabic more interesting.
