Telegram Encrypted Messenger Gains Video Support, Bot Payments, and More

Friday May 19, 2017 4:56 AM PDT by Tim Hardwick
Encrypted messaging platform Telegram received a significant update today, bringing video messaging, bot payments, and other new features to the chat app.

In version 4.0 of Telegram, users can activate video messaging with a tap of the mic icon to switch to camera mode, or tap and hold the icon to record a quick video clip. Swiping up while recording enables handsfree mode, which works with voice notes too. Users can also stop and replay the clip before sending.


In addition, chat bots can now accept payments, with the developers saying that users will soon be able to order pizza, shop for clothes, and potentially pay their utility bills using Telegram bots.

Also included in the update is a new Instant View feature, which is similar to Google's AMP platform. Essentially it enables users to view articles directly from within the Telegram app, and comes with the added ability to create article previews using the Instant View Editor.

Lastly, Telegram has also announced a new service called Telesco.pe that lets anyone watch video messages from public Telegram channels.

Telegram is a free download for iPhone and iPad from the App Store. [Direct Link]

Tag: Telegram
16 comments


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macintoshmac
23 months ago

Downloaded, no contacts have it, deleted...


Good for you. I have a couple, and use Telegram and enjoy it far more than the ubiquitous WhatsApp. Blazing fast, almost realtime sync. And a first rate Mac app. (which is what I use daily)
Rating: 5 Votes
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RamGuy
23 months ago
Telegram is great. It lack's integration and fallback to SMS and MMS like every other messaging-app besides iMessage so you would have to convince all your contacts to adopt Telegram. But the app itself is great, the end-to-end encryption is great, their app is great, it has great features like stickers, gifs and whatnot and they have great apps for ALL platforms including all desktop operatingsystems like Windows, macOS and even a web-app when you can't install the software.

I do love iMessage and use it every day. And I bet Telegram would not integrate with SMS and MMS if they had the option due to there being zero encryption when using SMS and MMS protocols, and Telegram is all about privacy and encryption. But if I was able to get everyone I know to use Telegram, I would stop using iMessage in a heartbeat.
Rating: 4 Votes
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JosephAW
23 months ago
Hello Telegram, goodbye WhatsApp. Is that good timing or what? :)
Rating: 4 Votes
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Sasparilla
23 months ago
Its good to keep in mind, Telegram has been shown to have serious security flaws....so don't expect Signal, iMessage (encrypted) or WhatsApp level security with it. Otherwise enjoy (most folks don't really care, but wanted to post this for those that do or are in a country with a Govt where that might be important).

http://gizmodo.com/why-you-should-stop-using-telegram-right-now-1782557415
Rating: 3 Votes
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Zaft
23 months ago
Downloaded, no contacts have it, deleted...
Rating: 2 Votes
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iosiseasy
23 months ago
I don't need encryption for the most part. I would rather have convenience. I'm happy my info isn't going to google or Facebook. And I love the cloud holds all my convos and media. I have dug into the API and even built a bot to send out notifications if an elevator is down in the condo.

The only thing it is missing right now is Live Photo support.
Rating: 2 Votes
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WBRacing
23 months ago

It's no different than what WhatsApp does.

Whatsapp is worse, not only does it do that (which is no biggie) but it can/will share your mobile number with Facebook as well. {shudders}

I have been happily using Telegram since 2014 and I am so grateful to FB for giving me the reason to find it. A single account, multi device synching and it has had two step authentication for years. WA only just managed to implement that 3 months or so ago. Tells you all you need to know about who is well ahead in the development game as well as who takes security more seriously.

Best of all, most of the people I know have now moved over to Telegram.

There is no point people complaining that no one is on it and then refusing to use it, rather than telling others about it. Makes you wonder how they think that WA came to be.
Rating: 1 Votes
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diego
23 months ago
Telegram is such a great app... I convinced all my family and friends to try it, and now I use it with at least 50 people. It's vastly superior than iMessage, which feels slow with all the unnecessary animations and loading bars and horrible UI.
Rating: 1 Votes
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tennisproha
23 months ago

Yeah, I wasn't too happy about that. Seems they use it to show who in your contact list has the app so they are doing a lookup of all your phone numbers in their database. The plus side, I saw all my contacts who have installed the app.
Apple needs an option to show only selected contacts to other apps, or create a group called shared app contacts.

It's no different than what WhatsApp does.
Rating: 1 Votes
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miknos
23 months ago
Amazing app. Just wish they used e2e encryption by default in all chats. Apart from that, it is very, very nice.
Rating: 1 Votes
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