Neither does the app have the ‘discover’ function popular in modern applications. Under Telegram’s approach, users themselves control their media usage: All messages are published by the channel chronologically. The key difference is the total absence of algorithms. Instead of the usual communities, Telegram has channels. You can take screenshots, but if you do the app will warn the other user about it. A time limit can be set on any photo or video within these chats - on expiry they will also self-delete. Regular and group chats are only a small part of the messaging app’s infrastructure.įor instance, secret chats can be created on Telegram linked to a specific user’s device - that is, they are not saved on the platform’s servers and, at the user’s request, can be made to disappear after a certain period of time. How is Telegram different from other messaging apps? They no longer want to be held hostage by tech monopolies that seem to think they can get away with anything as long as their apps have a critical mass of users,” was how Durov commented on all these developments. “People no longer want to exchange their privacy for free services. The update to the conditions of use was subsequently moved back to following an outcry from users. Another factor behind users flocking to Telegram is the new confidentiality clause on WhatsApp, whereby users’ personal data is to be made available to Facebook (which owns WhatsApp). President Donald Trump’s accounts were blocked on January 7, 2020, by Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other platforms.

The number of Telegram users started growing after U.S. The total number of users has since topped 500 million. Another eight percent are from the Middle East.

The new users came from Asia (38 percent), Europe (27 percent) and Latin America (21 percent). and the platform's founder, Pavel Durov, announced on his channel that 25 million new users had joined the app in 72 hours.

On January 12, 2021, Telegram became the second-most downloaded app in the U.S.

Telegram what is it