Telegram Info English

Paid posts are now available on any channel

Previously, we reported that the ability to publish paid posts depended on the number of channel subscribers as well as the composition of its audience.

Now, paid posts can be published on any channel.

#stars

Telegram for Android updated to version 10.14.2, Telegram for iOS to 10.14.1

The second update of the messenger in June includes several new features:

• Mini-App Bar: Users can now minimize mini-apps into a neat panel accessible at the bottom of the screen. This allows for quick returns to bots and instant switching between them without waiting for them to reload and without leaving the chat.

• Updated Emoji Reaction Preview: When long-pressing a reaction, the background blurs and the emoji enlarges. Additionally, users can now see which set a custom reaction belongs to when it's left on a channel post.

• Payment for Content in Telegram Stars: Content creators can now accept "Telegram Stars" by posting photos or videos with paid access on their channels. Subscribers can view the content of such posts only after payment.

Note: Posting paid content is not available in channels where the majority of the audience is from Russia, Ukraine, Germany, and Israel. Additionally, the channel must have at least 1,000 subscribers.

Android: Available on Google Play, as an APK from the official website, or via the verified channel.
iOS: App Store.

#update #Android #iOS

"Stealth Mode" Working Unreliably When Viewing Stories

Our subscribers have reported a dangerous bug when viewing stories using Stealth Mode. Due to this bug, in some scenarios your view may be visible to the story's author despite being in Stealth Mode. This raises large privacy and security concerns, as this flaw could potentially mislead users into the illusion of privacy when viewing stories with Stealth Mode enabled.

The @tginfo team does not have information on when this bug occurs or when it will be fixed.

#bugs

Telegram for Android and iOS Updated to Version 10.14

The June update has introduced which includes the following new features, amongst others:

• Stickers with Links in Stories: Telegram Premium subscribers can add up to three stickers with hyperlinks to their stories, set preview parameters for each, or disable the preview entirely, as well as specify hyperlink text.

• Search Stories by Hashtags: Users can now search for public stories that include a specific hashtag in their description. To do this, simply click on the hashtag in one of these stories or in any chat.

• Search Stories by Location: Stories can also be searched by location. To do this, click on the location sticker in any story.

• Bot Balance: Bot owners can now view the number of stars in their bot’s balance. The balance and transaction list is only displayed in the bot's profile if there are stars in its account.

• Action Menu for Links: When long pressing a link, the app now displays an action menu. Users can open the link in a browser or copy it to the clipboard.

Android: Available on Google Play, as an APK from the official website, or via the verified channel.
iOS: App Store.

#update #Android #iOS

Beta Version of Telegram for Android

The 10.14 Telegram Android beta has been released, which includes the following new features, amongst others:
• Stickers with links in stories.
• Search for stories by hashtags.
• Search for stories by location.
• Bot balance.
• Action menu for links.

For more updates regarding Telegram's beta applications, visit @betainfoen. There, you can also find the APK installs for the latest Telegram Android beta builds.

#Android #beta

Telegram has begun blocking bots that have not switched to Telegram Stars

On June 12, following a prior warning, Telegram started blocking certain bots that have not transitioned to the new Telegram Stars platform which now handles the transactions of digital goods and services in accordance with with Google Play and App Store rules.

When users attempt to interact with these blocked bots, the message displayed in the image above is shown.

It is worth mentioning that the Russian strings specifically state that the bot isn't being displayed due to App Store guidelines, whilst in English it is stated that the bot could not be displayed without any further information.

#stars

Telegram Desktop Has Been Updated To Version 5.1.7

What's new:

• Toggle chats search focus by Tab key.
• Unfocus empty search by Backspace key.
• Add a spoiler to already sent media when editing.
• Forward by drag-n-drop to frequent contacts / recent searches.
• Allow wide chats list in empty window with narrow list when a chat is opened.
• Improve custom font support in the input fields.
• Ctrl+Click on Reply in menu to Reply in another chat.
• Sending messages with effects.
• Moving photo or video captions above the media.
• Chat preview on chat photo long press or Alt+Click.
• Allow editing caption placement and spoiler in topics.
• Show vCard information for shared contacts.
• Allow scheduling media in topic groups.

Download: from the official website or GitHub.

#update #desktop

Telegram is Preparing to Launch a Store for Bots and Mini Apps

Pavel Durov recently shared plans to develop a platform for bot and mini-app developers.

According to Durov, the recently introduced payment system "Stars" is not only beneficial for developers but also complies with Apple and Google rules. Therefore, Telegram plans to recommend bots and mini-apps that accept star payments in appropriate sections of the apps.

As an example of such recommendations, the founder of Telegram mentioned the "AI" section in the upcoming mini-app store. This section could be displayed to business representatives who add bots for handling customer feedback, as well as bots that assist users with the official sticker editor.

#bots #stars

Outage in Telegram

According to Downdetector platform, users started reporting problems after 18:00 UTC.

The messenger has been unavailable for over an hour. After 19:50 UTC, Telegram started to restore service.

#outages

Telegram Stars: Payment for Digital Goods and More

Starting today, bots and mini apps on Telegram can sell digital goods and services using a new in-app currency named "Telegram Stars."

According to the blog, you can purchase Stars through in-app purchases in Apple and Google stores or via the official @PremiumBot, and then spend them on various digital products offered by bots, ranging from eBooks and online courses to in-game items.

Developers will soon be able to convert the Stars earned by bots into the cryptocurrency Toncoin using the Fragment platform.

Telegram promises to add more features related to Telegram Stars in future updates. For example, users will be able to not only purchase digital goods and services in mini apps but also send gifts to content creators.

Article: telegram.org/blog/telegram-stars

#update #Android #iOS #Desktop #macOS #Unigram

Telegram Apps for Android and iOS Have Been Updated to Version 10.13

Here are the new features introduced in the May update:

• Global Hashtag Search: Users can now quickly switch between three search modes for messages with the desired hashtag by tapping on it in any chat: current chat, all their chats, and public groups and channels.

• Animated Message Effects: When sending a message in a private chat, users can enable a full-screen effect from emojis or stickers, which the recipient will see when viewing the conversation. By default, users can use only 6 emoji effects from the list, while all other animations are available only with a Telegram Premium subscription.

• Media Placement in Messages: Users can now place text captions above attached images or videos. To do this, select attachments from the gallery, add text to them, and then choose the "Caption above" option from the three-dot menu or by holding down the send button.

• Collapsible Quotes: Before sending a message or when editing it, users can enable the collapsing of each block with a long quote (more than 3 lines) to make the message more compact. This can be done by pressing the "Collapse" button located in the lower right corner of the quoted text block.

Other new features include quick search for messages from a user in a group, an updated lock screen interface for the app on Android, a new action menu when tapping on a phone number in a message, and colorful calls on macOS.

Android: Available on Google Play, APK from the official website, or the verified channel.
iOS: App Store.

#update #Android #iOS

Telegram at the Center of Disinformation: EU's Struggle with the Messenger

Bloomberg has published an article regarding Telegram's role in spreading disinformation and the European Union's attempts to regulate the messenger.

According to the article, Telegram has become one of the main channels for promoting fake news aimed at undermining support for Ukraine. Additionally, the Russian secret service is using the platform to recruit individuals for sabotage in European cities.

Here are some key points from the article:

- Telegram as a Key Tool: Telegram is a crucial weapon for pro-Kremlin accounts in spreading disinformation against Ukraine.
- Recruitment by the Russian Secret Service: The Russian secret service is using Telegram to recruit petty criminals for acts of sabotage in European capitals.
- EU's Powerlessness: EU authorities are largely powerless to curb Telegram due to its relatively small user base in Europe (fewer than 45 million users).
- Doubt on User Base: EU officials doubt Telegram's claim of having 41 million active users in Europe.
- Estonian Prime Minister's Call: Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas has called on the European Commission to independently assess the actual amount of users on Telegram in the EU.
- Possible Classification as a Major Platform: If Telegram is recognized as a "very large online platform" under the new EU Digital Services Act, it will be required to combat disinformation.

At the same time, Telegram's upcoming update will include a new "Fact Check" feature to fight fake news.

#laws

Telegram user data disclosure policy in Germany

Users in Germany received a message from Telegram's service account. The messenger team decided to find out whether German users support the app's current Privacy Policy and whether they want to reduce or increase the number of times Telegram could potentially disclose data to the country's authorities, including the police.

“However, to prevent terrorist groups from misusing our platform, our Privacy Policy in place since 2018 allows us to disclose the IP addresses and phone numbers of suspected terrorists at the request of the government, supported by a court order,” the messenger team reminds.

To find out the opinion of the users Telegram decided to open survey, in which only users with German phone numbers can take part. Three different options were given to choose from:

OPTION 1: No change. Telegram will still be allowed to hand over the IP addresses and phone numbers of suspected terrorists only on the basis of a court decision. This option is already included in Telegram's current Privacy Policy.

OPTION 2: At the request of German police authorities, Telegram may disclose the IP addresses and phone numbers of suspected users, even if not confirmed by a court decision. This option, if approved, would be entirely new for Telegram and would therefore require changes to our Privacy Policy for German users.

OPTION 3: Telegram is not allowed to share user information under any circumstances, including the IP addresses and phone numbers of suspected terrorists. If this option is chosen, Telegram would change its data structure and Privacy Policy for German users.

The poll is active until 5th of September, 10:00 UTC.
It was previously reported that the German government had agreed with Telegram executives to further cooperate and continue to exchange views.

#Germany

Local Transcription on iOS

“Durov's Code” editors noticed (in Russian) you can use voice recognition engine from Apple on Telegram for iOS.

The feature has appeared in the June update together with Telegram Premium and is intended for testing.

By default, your speech is turned into text on Google Cloud server on your demand. Google's technology is used by Telegram to provide a high-quality service in many languages.

The Local Transcription option uses Apple's engine built into your iPhone or iPad. This way, the feature turns audio into text right on your device without sending data to Apple servers.

Apple's engine has lower recognition quality compared to Google's cloud recognition, especially in less popular languages. It also can't recognize longer messages, yet it works faster.

It makes sense to enable the option only if you need faster recognition at the price of getting a lower quality transcription, or if you have no Internet. The feature is unavailable without Telegram Premium and doesn't work in Secret Chats.

No need to be afraid of Google Cloud's voice recognition: despite of a lot of concerns, the company is not interested in Telegram users' messages. The agreements Google signs with other businesses to provide its Cloud services have an extremely strict privacy policy, so your voice messages are sent from Telegram's servers directly only to be transcribed once. You can read in more detail about why Google doesn't want Telegram users' voice messages in “Durov's Code” article (in Russian).

How to enable Local Transcription in Telegram for iOS
• Quickly tap the Settings icon 10 times in a row (or your profile picture if you have multiple accounts).
• The Debug menu will open. Find Local Transcription toggle and turn it on. We do not recommend you changing any other options in this menu.

Pavel Durov promises to return 99% of seized usernames into general availability

Pavel Durov made a post on his channel, claiming that 70% of all public addresses were taken by Iranian cybersquatters.

“In mid-August, we withdrew all public Telegram addresses linked to channels that were empty or inactive for the last year. We will gradually reintroduce 99% of these addresses into public use, this time with algorithmic and geolocation limitations so that more users, and not just a select few, can benefit,” — Durov announced.

It's important to note that there is no guarantee the revoked usernames will be available to be claimed back by their original owners. Returning these names into general availability imposes a new era of cybersquatting.

At the same time Pavel Durov finds the earlier suggested way of distributing the usernames to be the most optimal and fair:

“This way, those who acquire these catchy links will be motivated to put them to good use and bring value to our users with original content hosted at recognizable t.me addresses.”

In anticipation of the things to come, Telegram introduced the new link format, which we announced here.

New link format in Telegram

Today Telegram launches link format for public usernames. Now every user can use public links like tginfoen.t.me and https://tginfoen.t.me.

The only real difference from the classic t.me/username link is that the username is at the beginning of the URL.

Such links are already working in all browsers, according to the Durov's channel.

Petition to Return the Revoked Addresses of Telegram Channels

On August 19, Telegram revoked the public addresses of millions of channels around the world without warning their owners.

Those channels were often used as personal portfolios, public archives, and directories, which didn't need to post content often.

The process made many people upset and brought uncertainty to Telegram itself. Such actions without prior agreements with channel owners make Telegram less trustworthy to be used for any project.

The Telegram Info editorial board, @tginfo, and its international volunteers crew demand Telegram to:

• Return the confiscated public addresses back to their owners.
• Notify the owners of inactive channels about such actions.
• Allow users to claim public names that might be at risk.

If you want to participate in the petition, react with a to this post below and share this post with your audience. This is the only possible way to tell Telegram that the majority of its users are against this action.

Or if you think this action is a reasonable one, you can always react with a , along with your thoughts about its advantages.

Vote here: t.me/tginfoen/1474

Pavel Durov intends to deeply integrate the TON cryptocurrency into Telegram

Durov was admired by the success of the TON Foundation and stated that by having Telegram's user base, the cryptocurrency could achieve more.

He also described scenarios like the transfer of @username's using smart contracts in cryptocurrency, as well as the creation of stickers and emojis, which would form a market based on TON.

Back in 2020, the US Securities and Exchange Commission banned the issuance of TON. Consequently, Telegram officially disowned the platform, and stopped participating in its development.

After a while, the TON Foundation was announced which has no official ties to Telegram, but apparently in a close alliance. A community of enthusiasts continues to develop TON and has plans to circumvent the SEC ban. Telegram intends to integrate TON in a way that looks like the TON team independently provides its services under a partnership.

Judging by the reaction of users to the post, most users do not appreciate the addition of the Web 3.0 philosophy into Telegram. It was even proposed earlier to integrate NFTs, to which the audience also reacted negatively.

Originally, TON was an attempt to monetize Telegram. Given that the messenger now has an advertising platform and paid subscriptions, it's hard to say how ready Pavel Durov is to go against the interests of users for the sake of another source of income.

Update: (Perhaps) due to the high number of negative reactions (around 30K), reactions were turned off in Durov's channel.

You can no longer gift cheap Telegram Premium subscriptions to users from other countries

In the latest update, it became possible to gift a premium subscription to other users. To save money, some users began to gift Premium subscriptions through accounts created using phone numbers from countries where its price was much lower than in other countries.

The Telegram team noticed and made it impossible to do so, and only users with a linked phone number from the same country as yours can gift subscriptions at their regional price. If you gift Telegram Premium to an user residing in a country different than yours, then the prices will be internationalized (for example, in dollars, an annual subscription will cost $35.99).

Telegram revokes inactive names

In the last couple of days, Telegram has revoked the public addresses of hundreds of public chats without warning their owners.

In the most of the cases, the affected chats where those which had no content, or no content for over a year.

A close source to Telegram reported that this is a common practice, and that it won't be possible to reoccupy the revoked addresses for a while.

Furthermore, according to the same source, there are plans to reform the public usernames system.

Scams on the Telegram Ad Platform

Yesterday, the first scam channel appeared on the Telegram Ad Platform.

The scammers create hundreds of fake channels which get approved for the Telegram Ad Platform, and then they use them to redirect users to their fraudulent channels.

Requiring companies to pay €2,000,000 has not prevented the platform from scammers which purchase advertisement packages from bigger companies.

Telegram is already aware of the incident and is taking action. Telegram Info Editors recommended a "Report" button for sponsored messages, so it may appear any time soon.

Huawei Services Support

The version of Telegram for Android in AppGallery is now supporting Huawei services for location and push notifications.

It previously used services from Google which led its operations to be unstable.

If you own a Huawei device, tell us if you have noticed better performance after Telegram's recent update.

You can download Telegram from AppGallery here.

Telegram Desktop has been updated to version 4.1.1

What's new:
— Fix editing media captions with animated emoji.
— Fix viewing animated emoji sets used in a message.
— Fix premium sticker tooltip auto-show in channel comments.
— Fix main window position and size restoring after relaunch.
— Other bug fixes and minor improvements.

Download: with official website or GitHub.

#update #desktop

Telegram becomes 9 years old!

In the 14th August of 2013, Telegram iOS, the first Telegram client appeared, and a few weeks later, Telegram Android came.

Over the past years, Telegram has announced 10 massive updates, including those which brought live streams, group video chats, reactions, web bots, video stickers, the emoji platform, and much more.

Alongside those, Telegram Premium and the advertisement platform were launched.

Telegram's mobile clients are currently at version 8.9.

#birthday

Telegram Premium FAQ

Answers to frequently asked questions related to Telegram Premium are now on the official website.

— Future developments for Telegram Premium could include community-focused options.

— When subscribing via @PremiumBot, the currency and price of your first month of Premium is based on the phone number of your Telegram account. After this initial payment, all future payments are calculated for the default currency of your payment method. In order to qualify for localized pricing, your payment method must be issued by a financial institution in that country and have a local billing address.

— Telegram does their best to keep the cost of Telegram Premium as consistent as possible – this may include slight variations to reflect local living standards and keep Telegram Premium obtainable for everyone. When you subscribe, the price you see may include store or third-party fees, local taxes and any other applicable fees that are outside of Telegram’s control.

— If Telegram Premium is not available in your country, it’s possible that local laws and regulations prevent people from accessing Telegram Premium in your country. It’s also possible that your country isn’t supported by the payment processors Telegram relies on. In either case, we continue to do our best to keep all Telegram services available for everyone.

You can ask your questions regarding Telegram Premium in the comments or in our chat.

#faq

Apple demanded Telemoji to be removed

Beta version of Telegram had animated versions of Apple's emoji — Telemoji, but they are unavailable on release. Part of the animations Telegram was intending to provide for free.

Pavel Durov unveiled the reasoning behind this decision: Apple demanded for the animated versions of the default emoji to be removed from the emoji picker.

This is likely due to the fact Apple didn't like how Telegram uses Apple's trademarked emoji design for their own products.

Premium users can still use the cancelled emoji set by adding the "Restricted Emoji" pack.

Pavel Durov has also announced the custom emoji will be used for profile statuses and reactions — Premium users will get access to these features first in coming weeks.

Telegram Emoji Platform, Custom Animated Emoji Packs, Gifting Telegram Premium, and More
⁠
Telegram for iOS was updated to version 8.9.

Other Telegram clients will receive the new version soon.

Custom Animated Emoji (Premium)
• The new animated emojis can be included message texts and captions, adding even more emotion to your chats.
• Premium users get access to 10 initial custom emoji packs, containing more than 500 Premium emojis — and counting.
• Animated emojis are visible to all users, regardless of having an active Premium subscription.
• Ability to view the sets used in a specific message.
• A tooltip of animated emojis will appear as soon as you type any regular emoji.
• You are able to try them out by sending them to Saved Messages.
• You can also upload your own animated emoji packs packs with unique characters for Telegram Premium subscribers to use.

Interactive Custom Emojis
• Popular custom emojis are also interactive when sent in private chats.
• All users can enjoy full-screen animations whenever possible.
• Widely-used emojis, such as , , , , , , , and even some less-known ones like , , , now have additional animations.

Privacy Settings for Voice Messages (Premium)
• Premium users now have a setting that enables them to control who is able to send them voice/video messages: everyone, contacts, or no one.
• Premium users can now block voice messages and set exceptions for users or group of users from Settings > Privacy > Voice Messages.

Gifting Telegram Premium
• You can now gift Telegram Premium to friends, family and co-workers at a discount for 3, 6 or 12 months.
• Gifted subscriptions will instantly arrive, along with a special message.
• The gifting option is located at Profile > ⋮ > Gift Premium.

Updated Sticker Panel (iOS)
• You can now quickly and easily switch between stickers, emojis and GIFs.
• Optimized performance for aged devices when scrolling through stickers and emojis.
• A tooltip of animated emojis will appear as soon as you type any regular emoji.

New Interactive Emojis
• The following emojis now have full-screen animations: , , , , , .
• To trigger the full-screen animations, simply send one of those emojis to a private chat.

Article: telegram.org/blog/custom-emoji/en

Android: Google Play, APK from official website or verified channel.
iOS: App Store.
Telegram Desktop: with official website or GitHub.
Telegram for macOS: from App Store or verified channel.
Unigram for Windows 10: Microsoft Store | Download | Installation help

#update #Android #iOS #Desktop #macOS #Unigram

Telegram WebZ updated to version 1.50.0

What's new:
— Flexible Forwarding: Forward messages without the sender's name or media captions.
— Reorder Folders: Change the order of your folders in Settings.
— Better Drag & Drop: Open a chat in your list by dragging a file to it.
— Added more emojis.
— Media Viewer now supports scrolling through profile pictures.
— Use the hotkey ⌘+0 to open Saved Messages on macOS.
— Triple click will now select all text in the message field.
— Large file downloads (2 GB+) are supported in more browsers.
— Added colored icons for the invite link section in groups and channels.
— Added support for deleting chats with service notifications.
— Background color now adapts for better contrast in uploaded transparent images.
— Added support for SmallTalk highlighting, thanks to LinqLover on GitHub.

Fixes:
— Fixed issue with countable text localization in some languages.
— Removed download button from media in chats with content protection enabled.
— Various call fixes.
— Small redesign for code formatting, fixed parsing issues.
— Fixed video controls on mobile devices, thanks to y0ung3r on GitHub.
— Fixed duplicated messages in CJK languages.
— Removed ‘View in Picture-in-Picture’ button from stickers.
— Fixed layout issues in Waterfox Classic.
— Fixed issue with replies in discussions.
— Small design improvements related to Telegram Premium.

web.telegram.org/z

#webz

Alternative payment methods

In the Beta version of Telegram Desktop, you can now make in-app purchases (through the Payments 2.0 platform) and purchase Premium subscription not only with a bank card, but also with PayPal and Cheque services.

Currently it is impossible to pay with these payment methods — this functionality is at the testing stage.

#desktop

Now we know our readers better:

This is how our readers are distributed by continent:
Asia - 41%
Europe - 39%
America - 16%
Africa - 4%

We already have channels in the countries where many of our readers live. Subscribe and read our news in your language:
— Italy @tginfoita - 19%
— China @tginfocn - 7%
— Brazil @tginfobr - 5%
— Germany @tginfoger - 4%
— Russia @tginfo - 3%
— Spain @tginfoesp - 2%

Of course, not all countries were included in the survey, so we asked you to write your country in the comments. Most users have written from India, but for this country we already have 5 channels:
— Hindi @tginfohi
— Malayalam @tginfoml
— Bengali @tginfobn
— Tamil @tginfota
— Sinhalese @tginfosi

Also many readers have written from Iran. Follow this channel @tginfoper.

You can find all our channels in @tginfoworld. If you are ready to help us, write to @infowritebot.