Whatsapp may be the best player in the game when it comes to instant messaging apps, but Telegram Messenger is the entire game itself. Because Telegram is not just an app, it is an entire communication platform. It is not bound by restrictions or limitations like other apps.
The amount of privacy, features, accessibility, and extensibility offered by Telegram Messenger is unmatched and way ahead of its contemporaries like Whatsapp, Hike, Wechat, etc. Here are 10 Reasons why I switched to Telegram Messenger and maybe you should too.
1. Privacy and Freedom with Telegram messenger.
Unlike our dear friend WhatsApp who sold itself to Facebook and is now reading our chats to show us better ads(LOL). Telegram Messenger is very particular about user privacy and does not leak or share any user information. Since the main goal of this messenger is not to make the profit but to create an amazing messaging platform, they don’t show ads neither do they charge you for anything.
The Messenger has been funded pretty well so it is completely free.
2. Cross-platform
One of the major problems with these mobile chat applications is that they do not work elsewhere. What if you want to access those messages on your computer? Or a Web browser? Now some of you might have thought, Hey! Whatsapp Web! But let me tell you that WhatsApp web requires the mobile device to be connected to the internet. So it is not really working on the web. It’s just showing you messages on your phone.
Whereas Telegram messenger runs on Almost Every Major platform like –
- Android
- IOS
- Windows Phone
- All Web Browsers
- Linux(GUI and Command Line both)
- Mac Os
- Windows
- Xbox(Yes you heard it right)
It even runs on Firefox OS, I mean fewer people use Firefox OS, but they got it covered. So no matter what device you are using. Telegram is always available.
3. Cloud-based
Unlike other apps that depend on your phone’s storage to store chats and media, Telegram saves everything on the cloud. So it is accessible via all platforms.
4. It Never Hangs!
Believe me when I say this that the messenger never hangs.
When you open WhatsApp after some time and there are thousands of messages, your phone is unable to handle that much data and it hangs up.
The Users are lucky Since all data is cloud-based only the most recent messages are loaded on startup.
5. File Sharing
So Whatsapp really doesn’t allow the sharing of some types of files and it even limits the size of files that can be shared. With Telegram, you can share whatever you what and each file can be up to 1.5 GB in size at max.
6. Bots – Third Party apps
The Messenger has this feature called bots that are basically third party services integrated into it. So you can access many features from outside within telegram. To give you a perspective of what Bots are, here are a few bots –
- @Wikipedia_voice_bot lets you access Wikipedia within telegram.
- @hotorbot lets you rate others in terms of hotness.
- @reverseSearchBot can find the source of an image from the web.
- @PollBot lets you create opinion polls in groups and allows your group members to vote for a particular thing.
And Much more. You can even Create your own bots with the Telegram Bot API.
7. Telegram Groups
Groups in Telegram offer some amazing features. Apart from a group Name and photo. Groups in this messenger can also have a description and a username so that if you want to keep your group public it can be accessible by everyone. Not Only that Telegram groups support up to 200 members and once you reach that limit you can convert to a supergroup which allows for up to 20,000 members. And this limit may increase in the future.
As of Year 2020 Update – The member limit is now 200,000.
8. Telegram Channels
Telegram channels are basically used as Broadcast messages to share information or media. You can find a lot of Telegram Channels that share everything from jokes to technical tips and motivational quotes. Some channels you should follow are –
You could also create your own channel if you want.
9. Multiple Logins
Whatsapp doesn’t allow you to login from multiple devices. Unlike other Mobile based apps, Telegram Messenger allows you to login to multiple devices simultaneously. Every new login IP address, location, and user agent is recorded and the notification is sent to every other device.
Also, you could remotely delete a session if you want.
10. Some Special Features
- If a new user joins the group, the admin can allow him/her access to some of the chats before that person joined.
- Custom Notifications for every combination Possible.
- You can also chat with yourself to save some important links or media.
- With your username, you can chat with people without sharing your number.
- Free audio calling is available on Telegram.
And many more…
I think I should just stop there because I could just go on and on about why I switched to telegram or why I feel everyone should switch to it. So even after all these cool features why do people still use WhatsApp.
The Problem
The problem is that not many people know about these features. People are using WhatsApp because other people are using WhatsApp. So after reading this article maybe you decide to use Telegram but who are you going to message on Telegram? None of your friends or family uses it.
The Solution
Share this article with them. Let them try it once. I am sure they’ll love it. If you are a technical person move your technical groups to our suggested Messenger. It’s totally worth the small effort.
Conclusion
Telegram Messenger is way ahead of any other chat messaging application or service. It allows you to use the service free of cost from virtually every existing device. It offers absolute privacy and security to its users without the cost of reducing functionality. Cloud Stored Chats and unrestricted file upload give a boom to the overall experience as you can just rely on it for all your messaging needs.
However, Telegram does not own a big market share as of now, but things are changing and the recent few months have attracted a significant number of new users.
If you use Telegram and want your reluctant friends to start using it too, just share the article with them so they can find out about the type of features that this messenger has to offer.
Have you tried Wire (wire.com)?
The first time I tried Telegram, it went through all my contacts and gave me a list of those contacts that were also on Telegram. Likewise, these contacts now had my Telegram info. It felt like a complete violation of trust, a disrespect for privacy.
I kept searching and came across Wire and one of the things that impressed me was that it didn’t even require a phone number! It doesn’t even read your contact list without permission. You should check them out – completely Open Source, runs everywhere, end-to-end encryption and a bunch of other privacy-respecting stuff.
People tend to get religious about some of the apps they use but I like Wire simply because it goes well above others when it comes to respecting the privacy of it’s users.
Hi Gazoo, I checked out wire after seeing your comment and it seems to be indeed secure, However i feel security is not just right of the user but the platform also needs security from the user. Apart from that i feel it is a nice service. Haven’t used it very much but yeah it may be a good service though it doesn’t feel like a mass contender in instant messaging space.
I am not particularly religious about telegram but i tested it for 6 months now and it is the perfect blend of a security and options and speed. I will test wire now and will write an article sometime in the future.
If you care about privacy and freedom (your first point) then Signal is the way to go!
https://signal.org/
I think Signal is the way to go if you want privacy. I use Telegram but I don’t like the fact that the server side is closed source. I know they have promised to open it up, but nothing has come up so far.
If only Signal had a decent desktop client…
Thank you for your post.
Here are 2 major reasons why I will never join Telegram unless they change their setup:
1/ They demand your phone number to register and log in. WTF? I thought they focused on PRIVACY! The prrof they don’t is they ask for your phone number.
– If your phone get haced or stolen, tough s..t, anyone will access your account.
2/ They have no web client! You need to download a software even if you want to use it on a PC/MAC! WTF again! What is wrong with these people?
Do we need to downlaod an app to use twitter, faceboo? NO….
So, as you now them well, please tell them that millions will nevr use their services unless they:
1/ scrap the phone number BS
2/ Have a web client