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- Telegram

Telegram may be among the most popular messaging services in the world, yet there are still many who don’t know what it’s all about. The app is often name-dropped in discussions regarding online privacy and security, but aren’t all messaging apps secure? Don’t more popular apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger (despite their ties to Facebook) also have the fabled “end-to-end” encryption? What makes Telegram so special? To lock a chat go to Settings->Privacy and Security->Passcode Lock and enable it. Once you create a passcode and enable it, you will be able to lock and unlock your chats by tapping on the lock icon at the top right of the app. Global message deletion

If you don’t want to go through the hassle of customizing your own theme and still want to theme your Telegram, you can do that too. To do that, tap on the search icon and search for the word Themes. In the results, tap on Android Themes Channel. The channel houses the list of all the themes that people create and share. Just scroll to find the one you like. Once you find a theme that you like, tap on the download icon. Once it’s downloaded, tap on it again and then tap on the Apply button. Share Live Locations Whether you no longer want to let redundant chats clutter the precious storage of your device or wish to shield your personal chats, the auto-delete timer is for you. When you set an auto-delete timer for a specific Telegram chat, all of its content including images, videos, and documents are automatically deleted after the timer expires. On WhatsApp and other messaging apps, you can send uncompressed media by changing the media extension to something like PDF or EXE. However, on Telegram, you don’t need to take this hacky route for sending uncompressed media files. Just select your media and tap on the 3-dot menu. After that, choose “Send without compression” and that is it. How awesome is that? This single Telegram trick has saved me so much headache when sharing photos.

Cons of switching Security To enable it, go to “Settings”, “Data and Storage”, and turn off automatic download “when using mobile data” and “when roaming”. You will also see options to turn off autoplay “GIFs” and Videos”. Unlike mass-market messengers like WhatsApp and Line, Telegram is an open-source app. This means anyone can check the app’s source code, protocol, API, and see how it works and make an informed decision.

To set self-destruction timer, swipe right on the homepage, tap “New Secret Chat”, and add recipients. Now simply tap the clock icon and set Self-Destruct Timer to the desired time limit (from 1 second to 1 week). The clock starts ticking the moment messages are displayed on the recipient’s screen. Whatever your reasons for using Telegram, it's a solid messaging app. It makes for a great alternative to WhatsApp and SMS messaging, and Telegram is well worth using, especially if you can persuade your friends to join.