𝗜𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻᯾

Telegram Pin Messages 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. To create a username, go to “Settings” and tap “Username” under the account section. There is also a “Bio” option, where you can add a few lines about yourself. Anyone who opens your profile will see this text.

To get going, open the Telegram app on your device. Then, head over to a chat and tap on the name of the chat at the top. Sometimes people interrupt you halfway through typing an important message, and you forget all about it—this where drafts come in handy. Your unfinished messages (drafts) are automatically saved and synced across all devices. Edit Videos One of the nagging issues I have with WhatsApp is its extremely limited text editing features. For example, if someone sends a message, you can’t select a part of text from the message. You will have to copy the whole message and then edit it out in the small text field which frankly is very annoying. However, Telegram has brought a great way to select and copy a part of a message. Tap and hold on a message to select it first and then again tap and hold to select your part of the message. That’s ingenious, right?

Reminder on messaging apps has been one of the most sought-after features and finally, you can use it on Telegram. Recently, WhatsApp partnered with Any.do to bring Reminders, however, Telegram has implemented this feature natively. Though there is one lingering issue. You can only set reminders in the “Saved Messages” section. Type out the task and tap and hold the “send” button. Here, choose “set a reminder” and pick your date and time. Telegram will send a reminder notification just like Google Calendar or other task management apps. While the feature is good, we would have loved it more had it been available for user chats too. Plus, if you’re using the “secret chats” feature, you’re getting the same level of end-to-end encryption. On top of this, users can’t forward or screenshot messages in secret chats, and messages can be programmed to self-destruct. Deleting a message also deletes it for everyone on the service, and users have the option to delete not just their own messages, but other users’ messages, too. It’s also worth mentioning that all chats are encrypted, even if not end-to-end encrypted. While you can receive/send files irrespective of their type and size, you can disable automatic media download and auto-play media to save mobile data. This way, you can also avoid downloading unnecessarily large files. A further privacy blunder is that Telegram notifies your contacts when you join it — unless you don’t give it permission to access your contacts. The app doesn’t warn you it’s about to ping your contacts, and that’s a big caveat for those who want to use Telegram to keep a low profile.

Another security feature that adds usability is usernames. Instead of giving people your phone number, you can simply give them your username. This gives you better control over what information is out there, and how people can contact you in the future. Since Telegram stores chats and files on a remote server instead of your device, you can also access everything (except secret chats) from the web. Access it via the web portal or any of several Chrome extensions.