Telegram App Review

There has been a lot of hype about data privacy, and that the popular networking apps are using the data in their benefits. This is quite a disadvantage, considering that there is no privacy at all. It means that all our data is being sent to some government which we have no idea about. Not only is this dangerous, but also misleading in many ways. It means we are being monitored at all times, without even doing anything. Ever since this data privacy has come into the concept, people have been looking for safe and secure options to deal with. People have been trying to develop an application that would be secure from spying.

Before moving into the application review, some need to be explained what the application is all about. Telegram is an application which functions as a messenger. It is a text, image, and video sharing interface, that secures all the paths of communication with the exception of group messages. Incredibly smart, this operates through encrypted clouds to protect the idea. One can set up the accounts with their own phone number, just like other messaging applications. There’s a whole new option to share files, data, stickers, and more. There’s even an option of self-destruction if the users provide the command like that. Feels like a sci-fi movie already? If any of your messages are sitting idle for 6 months or so, they automatically move into destruction mode.

The Pros and Cons of this Application

Considering other brands and the kings in the mobile industry, this one performs excellently. This one is good for its user interface, the features and the security it provides. It is a clean app with integrated services of Dropbox and iCloud. Although the encryption services might be slightly endangered, this one could be of good use. Of course, it is completely free, and it syncs the data completely between two devices. There might be a risk for the children who are using this application. They may suddenly download X rated stickers and start using these data. They may even sneak into the application and send around objectionable content. Other than that, the app is almost harmless.

The app has been launched way back in 2013, and the app has gained political popularity in the year 2018. Iran and Russia have banned out Telegram from their lands, because of the secrecy. The entire foundation of the app was that the third party cannot access the data at all.

History of the Creators

Nikolai and Pavel Durov created a clone of Facebook. They clashed with the government to legalize their application, but when it failed, they fled Russia and came to the USA. They started working for Telegram. With the entire struggle for freedom of speech and them fleeing their country, they have a better story to propagate for their application. This became a very safe tool of communication for all activists, journalists and more – since this was safe and secure.

How the Application Works

This application is not the common messenger applications that we use. The smartphone that you use becomes the address of the application that you are using. There are options to share documents, that move into self-destruct if you command so. There is even an unsent message option which can be used until 48 hours of sending the message. This one has a website option for running, it is also compatible for windows, or MAC. It is even compatible with phones.

Is the Application Really Secure Like it Claims to Be?

This is a question that leaves us in splits. This app automatically doesn’t encrypt the data between you and the other user, but you will have to physically turn it on. There is a mode called the secret chat. If you aren’t switching on this mode, your data will be stored in the Telegram servers which are found all over this world. So if you are turning on your secret chat mode, it may be that your data will be erased from all servers. A lot of experts are wondering why the developers have used a rare feature MTProto to encrypt the data when there are other reliable services for the same.

Reasons Why Russia has Banned this Application?

The Federal Security Services requested both the developers to turn in their keys and but they refused. At that point, there are about 15 million users of this very application then. It was after their refusal, that the court declared the ban on this app. Even Amazon and Google have banned the fronting of Telegram after alleged Russian requests.

WhatsApp vs Telegram

We regularly use WhatsApp as a home app, and these applications have the end to end encryption set in at default. There is no need to open another mode to save your data privacy. This is definitely more secure than the Telegram services.

Some users have said that the benefits of this application are that multiple phone numbers can be used to access this messaging app, and it can be customized accordingly. Although some users have come up with the statement that the application can hang up a lot of times. Some have reported that safety is seamless and it is easy to use. The other users have commented that it is difficult to get through the part that many non-users exist, who do not use this application. Communication with them seems to be a problem.

The others have come up with the logic that one can edit text on Telegram, which has been sent as an accident, there could be secret chat modes, that get auto-destroyed, one could send in large files without thinking twice, or could even watch YouTube movies while chatting. There could be a greater number of members in a group, or even you could add stickers to a photo. Also, you could hide Telegram media, which gives you a bonus. But the question is, is the safety unquestionable? Or are there cracks in it? That is something we aren’t still confident of.