Telegram Info English

Telegram updated to version 13.0: native wallet and instant Gram transfers Telegram has begun rolling out its own non-custodial wallet, Gram Wallet, in stages. For now, the service supports only Gram cryptocurrency and NFTs associated with the messaging app: collectible gifts and usernames, and anonymous numbers. Gram Wallet is currently available to a limited number of users. To unlock access to the wallet before it rolls out to all Telegram users, you’ll need to update the app to the latest version and receive a transfer of at least 0.1 Gram from another user. Once the wallet is activated, its balance will appear in the “Money” section of Settings, in place of the Wallet bot, which was renamed Walt and hidden from the main menu shortly before the native wallet launched. You’ll also be able to instantly send Gram to people you’re chatting with through the Gram tab in the attachment menu of a one-on-one chat. One feature of the integrated wallet is the ability to make up to five Gram transfers a day to other Telegram users or wallet addresses without paying TON blockchain fees. The first transaction, however, is subject to a smart contract initialization fee.

Subscribe to our channel @infoton to stay up to date on developments involving the TON blockchain and Gram cryptocurrency.

Download the update • Android: Google Play, APK from the official website or the verified channel. • iOS: App Store. • Windows / macOS / Linux: official website or GitHub. • Windows: Microsoft Store. • Linux: Flathub, Snapcraft. • macOS: App Store or the verified channel. #update #Android #iOS #Desktop #macOS

Dangerous vulnerability in Telegram Desktop: any file can be stolen with one click What you MUST NOT do and how to protect yourself: • Do not keep using versions earlier than 7.2.9 — update the client immediately. If you use an unofficial client, temporarily switch to the official one until an update is released. Download: • Windows / macOS / Linux: official website or GitHub. • Windows: Microsoft Store. • macOS: App Store. • Linux: Flathub, Snapcraft. Advice for users of older clients: • Links can be dangerous: whenever you click a link, read the pop-up window carefully — if Telegram shows an unusual structure in the link (for example, one starting with tg://), do not open it. • Do not use the client without a local passcode: enabling one encrypts the session files in the tdata directory, preventing immediate account hijacking even if those files are leaked. What is the issue? A vulnerability has been discovered in Telegram Desktop clients earlier than version 7.2.9 (CVE-2026-107181). Because the ; delimiter was not escaped, parameters in tg:// links were interpreted as separate IPC commands. Using the interpret: handler, an attacker could cause files from the system to be sent covertly to their channel, without the user’s confirmation, when the user clicked a specially crafted link. The main risk The danger is not limited to stealing tdata session files and hijacking accounts. Exploiting the vulnerability makes it possible to covertly steal absolutely any files on the computer that the user can access: documents, saved browser sessions, SSH keys, system configurations, or cryptocurrency wallets. #security #desktop #vulnerabilities

Interactive web messages right in the chat The TGBetaLeak channel discovered a large experimental subsystem called HTMLBubbles in version 12.10.283300 of Telegram for macOS. According to the description, the messaging app is testing interactive messages built with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript right in the chat, without the need to launch a separate Web Mini App window. @tginfo editors have confirmed the module’s presence in the code of that version based on a preliminary review, but the described behavior and how it works have not yet been independently verified. The idea is to turn ordinary messages into widgets: product cards with selectable options, interactive boarding passes, or live charts. According to the source, rendering is handled by the compact litehtml engine, while scripts run in a heavily restricted sandbox with CPU limits, network requests blocked, and external media prohibited. You can read all the technical details about these restrictions in the source post. Editors’ concerns Despite the extensive list of restrictions, @tginfo editors have serious security concerns about this kind of feature. Integrating web engines that support JavaScript execution — even in a heavily restricted form — directly into the chat interface poses a huge risk. Experience shows that no matter how thoroughly developers isolate an environment, vulnerabilities are regularly found in rendering systems. The risk of malicious code running simply by viewing a chat raises serious questions about whether these widgets are worth it. For now, HTMLBubbles is an early experimental concept being tested within the Telegram team. The feature could change substantially during development or be canceled entirely. #macOS #beta

Wallet bot renamed as Walt — and disappears from the app menu as Telegram prepares its own replacement On September 28, 2026, users noticed that Telegram had stopped promoting Wallet. The bot itself had been renamed Walt and given a new logo that no longer made it look like an official Telegram service. In 2023, Telegram and the TON Foundation publicly announced a partnership, and the Wallet bot was closely integrated into the messaging app. In particular, Telegram began displaying the wallet in the app’s menu, promoting it to all its users. The Wallet bot was launched in 2022 by a company associated with the TON Foundation. At the time, the @tginfo editors expressed the view that Wallet was being developed in close cooperation with Telegram. Today, the company that owns the Wallet bot is known as TOP (The Open Platform). The @tginfo editors link these changes to the Telegram team’s preparations to launch its own Gram Wallet, which will become the primary wallet for Telegram users. The history of Telegram Open Network (TON) and Gram In the view of the @tginfo editors, the TON Foundation and the Wallet bot, now known as Walt, are the result of a hybrid strategy Telegram pursued because of the SEC’s 2020 ban on developing TON. Telegram is now replacing the bot with the fully integrated Gram wallet, in line with the original 2019 vision. Telegram may have decided to take back direct control of the blockchain thanks to the significant deregulation of cryptocurrencies in the US in recent years.

Preparations for launch and investment The first rumors about the Telegram Open Network (TON) blockchain and its cryptocurrency, Gram, both developed by the Telegram team, surfaced in 2017. In 2018, Telegram held a private ICO and raised about $2 billion. At the time, some believed that Telegram was developing TON in part to hold an ICO and raise funds to keep the company going, while avoiding the obligations associated with issuing securities and the need to introduce advertising and paid subscriptions in the app. By early 2019, it had become clear that the cryptocurrency was being prepared for launch and integration with Telegram in the coming months, in line with previously leaked plans. That same year, an experimental built-in Gram wallet appeared in the app. The SEC lawsuit and the freeze In October 2019, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Telegram, alleging that Telegram was selling securities, not virtual currency, through its ICO. In 2020, Telegram signed a settlement that forced it to refund investors and officially discontinue work on TON. Telegram froze development and removed most mentions of TON and Gram from the app. After losing the investments raised through the ICO, Telegram began financing itself through Eurobonds and other types of bonds. Telegram did not repay its first debt tranche, issued in 2021, until 2026. After Durov’s team left, the developer community split into two parallel branches: • Free TON: An independent group led by TON Labs, a validator, launched a separate network with the TON Crystal token. • NewTON (TON Community): Another group of independent developers continued supporting the original testnet2 network created by Durov’s team and focused on preserving TON’s original architecture and concept. The birth of the TON Foundation and the hybrid era In August 2021, Telegram officially chose the NewTON team, handing over the official ton.org domain and the project’s GitHub repository to it. The NewTON team then renamed itself The Open Network (TON Foundation), and the native token was named Toncoin. Although Telegram and the TON Foundation were independent, the @tginfo team believes there was an informal connection between them that allowed Telegram to continue working on TON. By maintaining formal independence, Telegram may have been trying to avoid scrutiny from the SEC and other regulators. In 2022, former VKontakte executive Andrey Rogozov, who had worked with Durov for a long time, and other developers joined the TON Foundation. In 2023, Rogozov also became head of The Open Platform (TOP). A press release states that TOP was formed by merging First Stage Labs with the Wallet team inside Telegram. Before 2024, the makeup of the TON Foundation team changed quietly, and it appears that at some point Rogozov stopped actively participating in the foundation and focused on The Open Platform. Meanwhile, Telegram maintained closer ties with TOP than with the TON Foundation. Telegram began a cautious integration: it launched TON-based auctions on the Fragment platform, introduced payouts in TON, enabled gifts to be registered as NFTs, added support for TON Sites to the app, and required Mini Apps to use TON. It was in this context that Wallet appeared. In the view of the @tginfo editors, it may have been one of the main drivers behind the emergence of the Web Bots / Mini Apps platform in 2022. In 2023, it began appearing for all Telegram users as the default wallet app. Legally, however, it was operated not by Telegram but by the TON Foundation and, later, Rogozov’s TOP. MTONGA In spring 2026, Pavel Durov announced the launch of the Make TON Great Again (MTONGA) initiative — a sweeping seven-step program intended to bring TON back to Telegram, transforming it once again from a standalone cryptocurrency project into Telegram’s native blockchain. Telegram regained control of the blockchain and its status as lead validator, upgraded the blockchain, restored the cryptocurrency’s original name, Gram, and announced plans to integrate a native wallet into Telegram apps. However, it appears that Rogozov’s team’s Walt wallet is not part of the MTONGA plans. TOP and its Walt wallet will continue to operate independently. In early 2026, TOP planned to buy the popular non-custodial wallet Tonkeeper from its founders. The full acquisition of its shares did not go through, but in August 2026 TOP took over Tonkeeper’s operations. Tonkeeper also owns the Tonviewer blockchain explorer, which was used in official Telegram apps to inspect blockchain transactions. In 2026, this blockchain explorer, which was under the control of Rogozov’s company, began displaying casino ads, so Telegram replaced it with Tonscan. Telegram chose not to return to Tonviewer even after it removed the ads. It’s worth noting that Telegram’s new wallet is not being built from scratch: Gram Wallet is being developed in collaboration with the My Wallet team (formerly MyTonWallet). The project includes native integration directly into Telegram apps, as well as a standalone iOS/Android app and a web version. Telegram’s wallet is fully non-custodial.

#TON

Improvements to Video Messaging on Android In the beta version of Telegram for Android for the upcoming 12.10.4 update, a new section called "Round Video (Experimental)" has been added to the settings. That page includes several experimental features that allow you to set the focus and smoothness of video messages recorded using the modern Camera2 API: • Output resolution: 360p / 480p. • Camera resolution: Low / Medium / High. • Frame rate: 30 FPS / 60 FPS. • Video bitrate: 750 kbps / 1 Mbps / 1.5 Mbps / 2 Mbps.

⚠️ Please note: Telegram notes that 60 FPS is used only if both the front and back cameras on the device support this frame rate. Otherwise, recording automatically switches to 30 frames per second.

In addition, users can disable the app's custom styling for downloaded video messages. In that case, the recorded "circle" will be saved to the device as an uncropped square, without any blurring or darkening around the borders and without the Telegram logo.

⚠️ Please note: This option does not alter the appearance of video messages that are sent to chats; the "circles" within the messenger remain circular regardless of whether you have disabled their stylization during the download process.

UPD: The messenger remembers the user's last selection and starts recording the next video message using the same camera that was used to record the previous video. This avoids the need to constantly switch between the front camera and the back camera when you start taking new "circles." This settings section probably won't be in stable versions of Telegram. It will only be in the beta version while the features are being tested.

Subscribe to our second channel @BetaInfo to be the first to know about upcoming Telegram updates.

#Android #Beta

Welcome Messages, Article Buttons, New Table Options The August Telegram update coincides with the messenger's 13th birthday: the mobile apps have updated to version 12.10, while Telegram Desktop has received a version 7.1 update. This update introduces the following features: • Welcome Messages: Admins can set and edit up to 3 welcome messages in their groups and channels. The message appears for the user when they join the chat or channel, but it is ephemeral and invisible to other members. To set a welcome message, open group or channel Settings > Welcome Message. Only the owner and admins with “Manage Welcome Messages” permission can change this setting. Even if you are an admin who had full permissions in a chat or channel, this permission is not granted by default. • Buttons in Articles: Users can now turn part of the text in paragraphs into buttons that are styled to look like links. The feature is available in the built-in full-screen article editor on Android and Desktop, but not iOS. The buttons can currently perform three types of actions: Link, Copy, or User Profile. The created button can be configured — for example, the style of the button can be set to dangerous (red), success (green), or primary (theme accent color). On Android you can set the style by tapping the link-button a few times, until you get the needed color.

Keep in mind: Together with inline buttons, Telegram introduced full-sized buttons in articles. There are differences in how they are created across platforms: • Android: Type the / symbol and select “Button” in the dropdown menu. • iOS: Tap “+” and select “Button Row”. • Desktop: Tap 🔗 and choose “Button”.

• New Table Formatting Options: The Rich Text tables received a few extra options: you can now remove cell borders or use Compact style to reduce inner padding in the table so it takes up less space. Download the update • Android: Google Play, APK from the official website or verified channel. • iOS: App Store. • Windows/macOS/Linux: official website or GitHub. • Windows: Microsoft Store. • Linux: Flathub or Snapcraft. #update #Android #iOS #Desktop

Telegram Desktop updated to version 7.1.1 What's new: • Added welcome messages for groups and channels. • Added buttons and files in articles. • Improved lists, tables, and Markdown text pasting in the article editor. • Added self-destruct timers and view-once feature for photos and videos. • Added video profile picture upload for users, chats, and channels. • Added a video editor with the ability to trim and crop the clip, change its quality, and set a cover. • Added the ability to restore open windows and chats upon restart. • Added new keyboard shortcuts to restore closed windows (Ctrl + Shift + T), as well as to open the article editor (can be assigned in Settings › Chat Settings › Keyboard shortcuts). • Added the ability to send music files via the attachment menu. • Added a new proxy type called WEB in the Connection settings. • Fixed bugs that caused crashes. Download: • Windows/macOS/Linux: official website or GitHub  • Windows: Microsoft Store  • macOS: App Store  • Linux: Flathub, Snapcraft #update #Desktop

Telegram Is Working on Experimental WEB-Proxy A new experimental proxy type titled “WEB” was found in Telegram Desktop's code. The discovery was publicized by teleLakel. The server code for the WEB-proxy is still under development, and Telegram hasn't endorsed any implementations yet, so there is no good way to try the technology at the moment. Why is this necessary, and why not just use MTProxy? The already existing MTProxy can also mask to appear as HTTPS traffic using the FakeTLS extension. However, modern Deep Packet Inspection systems (DPI) can already tell such connections apart, since FakeTLS still has some differences from real HTTPS traffic that can be seen from the outside. The new WEB transport makes detection much harder: to talk to the server, the messenger uses the built-in browser (WebView). It establishes a real TLS/HTTPS connection using standard browser cryptography, which makes Telegram traffic less different from regular web surfing.

How does it work • The messenger opens a special page on the proxy server domain using a hidden browser • This domain can also continue to work as a regular website. The hidden Telegram channel only activates if the request contains the correct secret key. • Inside the unitary web channel, the encrypted MTProxy traffic is enveloped into WEB-proxy frames and sent to the proxy server. Currently, this is done using WebSocket. • HTTP/WebSocket traffic is repackaged and relayed to the MTProxy server without being decrypted. Currently, the feature is under active development, so by the time it gets released, the protocol may change.

The independent Telemt community is working on detection-resistant protocols. Earlier, thanks to the community's research into Russian DPIs, Telegram developers updated the MTProxy in their clients to adapt them to new detection methods. The community notes that the messenger should spend more time developing new censorship-resistance methods. If the messenger doesn't keep improving the new WEB proxy, it might stop working in the future — typical Telegram traffic may have uniquely identifying properties even inside a real TLS connection if additional masking methods are not used on it. #Desktop #proxy #bans

The Australian Internet Safety Regulator Sues Telegram The regulator claims the service is ignoring the country's laws, citing the messenger's lack of action in deleting terrorist propaganda materials. The government doesn't intend to ban Telegram yet, although it has the power to do so. The Australian government's demands stem from user reports claiming that videos are being spread on Telegram featuring the Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand in 2019 and shootings in a US supermarket in 2022.

"We have alleged that Telegram has failed to detect, deter and disrupt pro-terror material", eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant said.

The court case is the result of a year-long investigation. eSafety claims that it attempted to engage with Telegram, but the messenger did not act or answer government requests for five months. Australian law does not require a license to operate in the country, but the regulator may ask the court to ban it.

"We've never used those powers, and we'll see how this all plays out and whether that kind of action is warranted", Ms Inman Grant said.

Telegram's representatives state that “extensive anti-terrorism efforts are well documented”, and its published records claim thousands of “terrorist communities” were removed. The spokesperson added that the company will contest the allegations in court. More Context • In November 2025 Telegram initiated a legal battle with eSafety over the “Online Safety Act 2021”, deeming it illegal. • In February 2025, the Australian regulator fined Telegram over $600,000 for delaying the provision of information on its measures to combat terrorism and materials related to child exploitation. • The company asserts that once it became aware of the request, it voluntarily provided the required information. The @tginfo team previously analyzed the details of that response, which reveals a lot of details about how Telegram's moderation works. #Australia #courts

The .me registry commented on the suspension of the t.me domain A representative of the .me domain zone administration commented on Twitter about the situation regarding the ban of the t.me domain, which belongs to Telegram:

The .ME Registry works closely with law enforcement to monitor and mitigate issues across the .ME domain in accordance with applicable laws, including sanctions requirements. On 13 July, First VPN Service (1VPNS) was included as a sanctioned entity by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. A Telegram channel using the t.me domain was among 1VPNS identified infrastructure. Accordingly, the t.me domain was suspended. On 14 July, Telegram provided confirmation that it had removed its links and affiliations with 1VPNS. Once the confirmation was reviewed and verified, the suspension was removed from the t.me domain. We appreciate Telegram’s prompt cooperation in resolving this matter.

As a reminder, on July 13, the .me registry disabled the DNS records for the t.me domain without any public statements from the zone administration or Telegram. On July 14, Identity Digital support explained the ban as compliance with OFAC requirements, and a link to a Telegram channel was found in the service's sanctions lists, which the messenger soon deleted, after which the domain was restored. The .me zone is allocated to the government of Montenegro, but on its behalf, the infrastructure is managed by a joint venture between Identity Digital, GoDaddy, and the local company ME-net. #outages #bans

Fullscreen Rich Text Editor, Communities, New GIF Search, and Ephemeral Messages Telegram for Android and iOS updated to version 12.9, while Telegram Desktop updated to version 7.0. In its July update, Telegram brings a much more extensive variety of text formatting options, communities, and much more: • Advanced Text Editor: Users can now send Rich Formatting messages from the new full-screen text editor. It includes many styling options: headings, tables, lists, quotes, LaTeX math formulas, code blocks, and expandable spoilers. It also allows users to mix photos and videos right in the middle of messages by creating collages or carousel slideshows. The editor is available under 📎 Attach › Article. Alternatively, in mobile apps you can tap the ↖ icon above the “Send” button. The full-screen editor allows users to send messages that are up to 32,768 characters long. Most of the key features of the full-screen editor are only available to Premium users, although the full-screen UI itself can be used for free. • Communities: Organize communities that bring theme-related chats, channels, or even bots closer together. You can't add big entities, though: Telegram limits chats and channels by their member count. The @tginfo editors are still researching the limitations of this feature. Make sure not to confuse communities with forums: each chat and channel remains independent, while users can view the list and join each separately. Community chats can be visible to all members or be hidden, in which case only community admins and the members of the hidden chat can see it. Community chats and channels can merge into a single item in the chat list — this is controlled by the community admins. • Ephemeral messages for bots: Bots and users can now message and reply to each other privately even in the middle of a group chat — such messages are visible only to the specific recipient and the bot that sent them. Ephemeral commands and replies to them are marked with a special 👁 crossed-out eye icon. When a command is ephemeral, the user's initial message remains fully invisible to all members and bots, which allows confidential interactions to take place even in public spaces. Besides, such messages will be invisible if you log into your account from a new device. • Updated GIF Search: The GIF panel now searches across 350 million GIF animations in 36 languages. The search engine works thanks to Telegram's indexing of widely shared, publicly available GIFs using the in-house Cocoon AI project. Alas, Telegram doesn't clarify what “publicly available” entails. The change was caused by Google shutting down access to its Tenor GIF library. Telegram claims the new GIF search is private and doesn't depend on third-party services, and adds that it works much faster than before. Article: telegram.org/blog/communities-editor-invisible-messages/ Download the update • Android: Google Play, APK from the official website or verified channel. • iOS: App Store. • Windows/macOS/Linux: official website or GitHub. • Windows: Microsoft Store. • Linux: Flathub or Snapcraft. #update #Android #iOS #Desktop

Exclusive Access to New Bot API Hosting Using the official @ContestBot, the messenger team is sending service notifications to some winners of past Telegram contests. People who distinguished themselves in the contests are invited to join a private test of a new Bot API paradigm — Telegram Serverless. It will allow developers to launch and maintain Telegram bots and Mini Apps on Telegram servers, without deploying their own infrastructure.

“As a winner of a previous Telegram competition, you are invited to exclusively test Telegram's new Bot API. It allows you to run your bots — including their code and databases — directly on Telegram's infrastructure, without using your own servers”, says the service message.

Unusually, the invites are sent not only to developers who participated in software development contests, but also to winners in creative competitions. You can learn more about Telegram Serverless and explore the docs on the official website. Keep in mind that the new API is currently not available to the general public. #BotAPI

The t.me Domain Has Been Restored by yhe .me Registry Checks by the @tginfo editors show that the .me zone's main server has returned the DNS records for the t.me domain. Since DNS records are cached at the level of various DNS services and providers, it may take up to 24 hours for service to be restored on users' devices. #outages #bans

Telegram Is Still Working on Restoring the t.me Domain The t.me domain is still down for users worldwide, as it was disabled by the administration of the .me domain zone. The messenger's team has not commented on the matter. As a temporary measure, users are advised to replace t.me links with telegram.me or telegram.dog — the messenger's official domains. The @tginfo editors note that Instagram blocks links to telegram.me in profiles, but links to telegram.dog work. Shortly after the news about the domain being disabled, Telegram began replacing t.me links in Telegram apps and on the official telegram.org website. Pavel Durov attempted to contact the .me registry administration via their official Twitter account. Possible reason for the block The .me zone belongs to Montenegro, and the infrastructure is managed by a joint venture of Identity Digital, GoDaddy, and the local company ME-net. The owner of the TeleLakel channel received a response from Identity Digital's support team, which claims that the domain was disabled due to the “need to comply with OFAC-related requirements”. OFAC is a division of the US Department of the Treasury that administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions. OFAC has not added Telegram to its sanctions lists. However, an action statement dated July 13, 2026, regarding newly sanctioned companies mentions a service called "FIRST VPN SERVICE". Users noticed that one of the links to its website is a Telegram channel address on the t.me domain. This could mean that the .me domain operator saw the t.me domain in the sanctions lists and quickly blocked it without further research. The @tginfo team noticed that this morning the messenger deleted the Telegram channel that was mentioned in this sanctions list. It is unknown whether this channel was actually the reason for the block, or if Telegram did this on their own as a precaution.

A popular rumor about the reason for the block A version is spreading in the community that the t.me domain was revoked because the official Telegram Twitter account joked about a September 9th terrorist attack. The @tginfo editors consider this version unlikely: if it were true, the .me domain zone administration would likely have blocked all Telegram domains, including telegram.me. Furthermore, the published image was not a joke invented by the company itself, but one of the most popular entries submitted by users as part of a contest.

#outages #bans

The .me registry has blocked the t.me domain Telegram users worldwide have encountered an outage: short t.me links have stopped opening in regular browsers. The problem affects users in the entire world. At the same time, within the mobile and desktop Telegram clients themselves, clicks on links are processed correctly, and redirects work without any problems. As a temporary alternative for posting on external resources, you can use telegram.me links. Technical details At the moment, the exact causes of the incident remain unknown. According to WHOIS data, the t.me domain has been completely removed from the DNS zone by the administration of the .me domain registry. This status is set not by the registrar (GoDaddy), but directly by the main operator of the domain zone — the Montenegrin company doMEn d.o.o., which manages the entire .me zone. This organization is a joint venture of Identity Digital, GoDaddy, and ME-net. #outages #bans

⭐ Advanced Text Editor Is Already in Beta Users with a Telegram Premium subscription and a Beta version of the Telegram app can now send Rich Formatting messages from the new full-screen text editor. It includes many styling options: headings, tables, LaTeX math formulas, code blocks, block quotes, expandable spoilers, collages, carousel slideshows, and more. We provide more details about the new editor UI in our initial post. In the past few weeks, the feature only worked on the test server, but is now available to everyone with a Premium subscription. To try the feature at this stage, you must use the Beta versions of the Telegram apps: version 12.9 if you're on mobile (Telegram for Android and Telegram for iOS), or version 6.9.4 of Telegram Desktop. Beta versions of the Telegram apps: • Android: official channel • Telegram Desktop (Windows/macOS/Linux): official website • iOS: not available for new testers at the moment. The editor is available under 📎 Attach › Article. Alternatively, in mobile apps you can tap the ↖ icon above the “Send” button.

Subscribe to @betainfo — our second channel. There, our team shares all the new features discovered in the Telegram beta versions.

#Android #iOS #Desktop #Beta

Communities Are Now Being Tested in Telegram In Telegram beta for Android, version 12.9, users can now organize communities that bring theme-related chats closer together. The details: • Chats Only: At the moment, only chats can be added to communities. • How to Join: Telegram treats you as a member of a community if you join any chat linked to that community. • What This Offers: If a chat is linked to a community, this is highlighted on the chat's profile page. From there, members can navigate to other chats in the community. Members can view the list of all “visible” chats in the community and join them. • Chats Stay Independent: Telegram won’t add you to other chats in the community automatically. Different owners can offer to add their chats to a community. • Can Merge Visually: Community chats can display separately or merge into a single item. This behavior is controlled by community admins using the “Show as One Chat” toggle. When it’s active, the community looks similar to forums, but each topic is instead an independent chat you can join. • Hidden Chats: A chat can be added to a community with “hidden” visibility. A hidden chat can be seen only by those invited to it separately. This is similar to general and hidden channels in Discord servers. Members of the hidden chat can navigate into the community, while other community members can’t see the hidden chat. • If We Should Expect Channels: The app code mentions adding channels, but the feature is unavailable, so it’s not clear whether it will be added in the future. Creating communities is available only on the test server at the moment. You can add your group chat to a community in chat settings—just tap the “Add Group to a Community” option.

Subscribe to @betainfo — our second channel. There, our team shares all the new features discovered in the Telegram beta versions.

#Android #Beta

Extended Text Editor in Telegram In the beta version of Telegram for iOS, build 12.9.0 (33214), the “AI editor” button was replaced with the Markdown editor launcher. When tapped, the button expands the message input field to the full screen height, turning it into a full-fledged article editor. For context, support for extended rich text messages appeared in the Telegram 12.8 update. It includes many text styling options: headings, tables, LaTeX math formulas, code blocks, block quotes, expandable spoilers, collages, carousel slideshows, and more.

Subscribe to @betainfo — our second channel. There, our team shares all the new features discovered in the Telegram beta versions.

#iOS #Beta

Telegram Is Banned in India, Deleted from App Stores, Suffered a Global Outage The Indian government ordered a temporary ban on Telegram due to mass leaks of NEET-UG exam questions. However, a local telecom‘s attempt to restrict access led to interceptions far beyond the country. Editors at @tginfo explain how local censorship turned into a global outage. What Happened in India The formal reason for the ban was leaked questions for the national medical exam in Telegram channels. Currently, the official Telegram client has been removed from the Indian App Store and Google Play storefronts. Pavel Durov points out that this move punishes 150 million users in India, while the leaks simply migrated to a different app, and that Telegram cooperated with regulators by deleting “hundreds of channels sharing leaked exam materials and related scams in India”. The CEO also adds that the messenger team has “been making the ‘edited’ label more visible to prevent backdating scams”, although it is not clear whether this change hasn't shipped yet or is some local change that our editors couldn‘t confirm independently. The “edited” indicator changes are said to be done to fight backdating scams. For context, India is one of the biggest Telegram markets. The Indian government tried to pressure Telegram before: in 2022, a court demanded the disclosure of pirate channel owners‘ personal data. At that time, Telegram only complied on paper, stating that it didn‘t store the requested data on its servers. It is clear that this time the government is trying to act with more force. From a Local Ban to a Global Outage Trying to restrict Telegram inside the country, an Indian telecom company used a BGP routing hijacking trick. • The Internet is made up of many interconnected networks that tell each other the data paths using the BGP protocol. • An Indian telecom company announced to the whole world that it owns Telegram's IP addresses, forcing part of the global traffic to be sent through the false route, which blocks access to the messenger. • Since many service providers around the world still don‘t verify the authenticity of the routes they receive, the false routes spread around the globe. As a result, connectivity issues could be observed even outside India, including regions like the UAE. Similar incidents happened before: for example, in 2023, the Iraqi government used a similar trick to ban Telegram. Industry experts point out that the Indian telecom even got into a brief network war with Telegram, in which one company tried to overwrite the opponent‘s routing directions. Pavel Durov announced that Reliance stopped malicious routing four hours after his post. Erroneous Accusations Against Meta Trying to Blame for All Their Problems Pavel Durov called the service provider‘s actions intentional sabotage and assumed that it might be part of the competitive war that WhatsApp is leading against Telegram, based on a claim that Reliance is partially owned by Meta (parent company of WhatsApp and Facebook). Despite this, community and media research shows that Pavel Durov confused two companies. The network system that was hijacking the traffic is owned by Reliance Communications, an old telecom asset midway through bankruptcy, while Meta invested in a completely unrelated company — Jio Platforms (which also owns Reliance Jio, a large Indian service provider). The theory about WhatsApp‘s corporate conspiracy couldn‘t be backed by any technical data. It is likely that the global traffic hijacking was caused by incompetence among the engineers at the Indian company responsible for configuring the hardware to block Telegram. It is not the first time that Pavel Durov has publicly accused WhatsApp of attacking Telegram, explaining unfavorable events with conspiracy theories. #India #censorship #outages

Rich Text Formatting is Coming To Users Too On his Twitter account, Pavel Durov announced that extended Markdown formatting — tables, headers, formulas, task lists, and expandable quotes — will be available not only for bots, but for regular users as well. According to the founder of the messenger, everything will be tested on bots first:

Planned for later this month, but need to test everything on bots first

You can explore how the formatting works in the interactive demo: @RichTextDemoBot. #bots