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Live location & proximity alerts Send Silent Messages Use Hashtags to Organize Your Chats

Cons of switching Since non-secret chats and files are stored in the cloud, you can access them from any device by logging into your account. You will never have to worry about on-device storage or losing important files, but the trade-off is that you lose a bit of privacy and security. 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. Set Reminders

Next up, tap Sound and then choose your custom notification sound located under the Telegram Tones section. Make sure to tap Done at the top right to finish. Interestingly, Telegram names your custom notification sound as Cloud Tone and also allows you to upload any audio as a notification sound for a chat. If you ever receive any cool short audio clip like a meme sound or any hilarious sound effect (also works with the sent audio) just long-press on it and choose the “Save for Notifications” option in the popup. Last year, Telegram brought a unique feature that allows you to discover Telegram users and groups based on your location. This comes really handy when you want to add someone to your Telegram without sharing your mobile number. Also, if you are going to conferences, campuses or festivals, you can find several groups related to the place and event just like that. To add nearby people, open the Telegram menu and go to “Contacts”. Here, tap on “Add People Nearby” and there you have it. Previously, it was required to keep the screen open for this feature to work. But now users can turn on the “Make Me Visible” option in the People Nearby window so nearby users can see their profile without needing to have the window open. Add Animated Stickers to Images/Videos

This security-focused messaging app allows you to register a unique username so that people can message or add you to groups without necessarily knowing your phone number. This way, you can keep your number private. Telegram is a multi-platform messaging service founded by Russian entrepreneur Pavel Durov, although it was temporarily banned in Russia and has no affiliation with any government or company. It first rolled out on iOS and Android in late 2013, and now has an estimated 550 million monthly users. Telegram’s user base tends to increase whenever a privacy scandal hits one of its larger competitors.