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The official Telegram on Telegram. Much recursion. Very Telegram. Wow.
Some media claimed Telegram did little or nothing to stop ISIS content from spreading on its platform. Nothing can be further from the truth: every day we block over 60 ISIS-related channels before they get any traction, and over 2,000 channels are blocked every month.
For daily updates on the number of ISIS bots and channels blocked by Telegram, follow @ISISwatch.
Telegram 3.15 is out, adding pinned chats and powerful @IFTTT integrations.
You can now pin important chats to the top of your list and use Telegram to control more than 360 services and Internet of Things devices.
For example, you can now receive your new Twitter mentions in a Telegram group, automatically post your Instagram photos to a Telegram channel, or change the color of your Philips Hue by sending a message in Telegram.
Bonus: Android users will enjoy three extra features in this update: high-precision rotation for photos, Picture-in-Picture mode for Youtube videos, and forwarding into Secret Chats.
Read more in the Telegram blog:
https://telegram.org/blog/pin-and-ifttt
Telegram 3.12 is out for iOS and Android!
1. You can now add masks, text, and drawings to your pictures. Telegram's sticker artists have prepared many stylish masks for you to try out. Naturally, you can also upload your own using the @stickers bot (by the way, that bot has learned a couple of new languages for the occasion).
2. In addition to this, you can now make your own GIFs in just a few taps. Simply record a video, then press the "mute" button to send it as a looped animation.
3. We've added a new Trending tab to your sticker panel, feel free to check it when you're out of fresh sticker ideas.
You can read all about the new features in this blog post:
telegram.org/blog/masks
Telegram v.3.11. is out for iOS, Android and Desktop.
Trending stickers, personal storage, group previews for invite links, new camera interface for Android 4.1+, new in-app video player for Telegram Desktop, and more.
Read all about it the latest blog post:
https://telegram.org/blog/trending-stickers
Here's how your chats list will look in Telegram for iOS v.3.10 with a couple of Drafts and a video running in PiP mode.
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Telegram version 3.8 has arrived!
Meet Bots 2.0, our biggest update to the bot platform since June 2015. We've introduced a whole bunch of new tools that will help developers build seamless and more intuitive bot interfaces for you.
Try these sample bots to see what's coming your way soon: @music, @sticker, @youtube, @foursquare
Or check out the demo videos here:
https://telegram.org/blog/bots-2-0
But this update is not only about bots. We've also added some nifty preview and sharing options to our apps, as well as various design improvements on iOS, Android, and Desktop.
You will find more details in this post:
https://telegram.org/blog/share-preview
We're also delivering 15,000,000,000 Telegrams daily now. Keep them flying!
https://telegram.org/blog/15-billion
Inline Bots
You can now easily send bot-generated content to any chat, group or channel – even if the bot is not a member. Simply type the @username of an inline bot in the message field in any chat, then type some keywords. The bot will offer you relevant content that you can send in one tap.
https://telegram.org/blog/inline-bots
Sample inline bots:
@gif – Search and send animated GIFs
@vid – Quickly share YouTube videos
@bing – Find pictures using Bing
@pic – Find pictures using Yandex
@wiki – Share Wikipedia articles
@imdb – Find and share movie details
@bold – Send bold, italic or fixed width text
We've updated our apps with new cache management options so that Telegram can take up nearly zero space on your phone, even if you‘re using it heavily.
Read about it in the Telegram blog:
https://telegram.org/blog/cache-and-stickers
In other news, you can now manually reorder your sticker packs, and the order will be synced across all your devices. This can be done in Sticker Settings, accessible via the new button in the sticker panel (or via Settings).
On Android and Desktop, tap/click and hold on a pack to drag it to its new place. On iOS, tap 'Edit' first. Manual reordering is coming to all other official apps within a day.
If you're looking for more sticker packs to reorder, try marching Vicky and Harry up and down your stickers list:
/channel/addstickers/Vicky
/channel/addstickers/Harry
We were able to identify and block these public ISIS channels thanks to your reports. Thank you!
Here's an explanation of the blocking process from our FAQ:
All Telegram chats and group chats are private amongst their participants. We do not process any requests related to them. But sticker sets, channels, and bots on Telegram are publicly available. If you find sticker sets or bots on Telegram that you think are illegal, please ping us at abuse@telegram.org.
Our mission is to provide a secure means of communication that works everywhere on the planet. In order to do that in the places where it is most needed (and to continue distributing Telegram through the App Store and Google Play), we have to process legitimate requests to take down illegal public content (sticker sets, bots, and channels) within the app. For example, we can take down sticker sets that violate intellectual property rights or porn bots in countries where pornography is illegal.
User-uploaded stickers sets, channels, and bots by third-party developers are not part of the core Telegram UI. Whenever we receive a complaint at abuse@telegram.org regarding the legality of public content, we perform the necessary legal checks and take it down when deemed appropriate.
Please note that this does not apply to local restrictions on freedom of speech. For example, if criticizing the government is illegal in a country, Telegram won‘t be a part of such politically motivated censorship. This goes against our founders’ principles. While we do block terrorist (e.g. ISIS-related) bots and channels, we will not block anybody who peacefully expresses alternative opinions.
FAQ link: https://telegram.org/faq#q-there-39s-illegal-content-on-telegram-how-do-i-take-it-down
Finally some good news for our Iranian users.
A couple of weeks ago Telegram stopped working in Iran, so I assumed we had been blocked there. However, service has since returned to normal, and the Iranian Ministry of Information and Communication declared they were not going to block Telegram.
The interruption of service, they say, was due to the disruption of cables connecting Iran with the rest of the world (Suez Canal, Mandeb Strait + Iran-Turkey cables), and the poor connectivity affected most western services in Iran – not just Telegram.
Moreover, the government denied that they required any kind of spying tools from Telegram, saying that the demand I received was fake and not authorized by any higher authorities.
I’d like to believe that this is true – it would mean that the Iranian people will continue to be able to use what I maintain is the best messaging service on the market. And since our system administrators confirm that the Iranian government’s report of cable disruption is probable, my earlier claim about Telegram getting blocked may have been inaccurate (or at least premature).
In that case, sorry for the false alarm, everyone. It’s easy to misinterpret the situation in markets that have a history of internet censorship – you might have heard that Facebook and Twitter have been blocked in Iran for a few years. However, this doesn’t mean that Telegram can't be blocked there in the future.
Iranian authorities made it clear that they would block Telegram if it contained publicly available porn, i.e. porn bots and porn channels. If this is the only matter that poses a concern, there will hardly be any problem, since we already block most porn bots and channels anyway due to App Store restrictions.
Anyway, the bottom line: we’re good in Iran. For now. And let’s hope for the best 🌟
Telegram for Android just got updated with Android 6.0 features. Version 3.2.3 supports Now on Tap, Direct Share and Fingerprints for Passcodes.
Update it here: https://telegram.org/dl/android
Good news for artists: We've upgraded the @Stickers bot, which helps you create sticker packs from your pictures.
This bot will now also give you usage statistics for your stickers and packs. Try feeding it the new commands:
/stats
/top
/packstats
/packtop
Stickers bot:
/channel/stickers
An introduction to sticker packs:
https://telegram.org/blog/stickers-revolution
By the way, did you know that when you delete a message in a channel it disappears for all participants, not just you?
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And the iOS update has finally left the clutches of the App Review Team.
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen of the radio audience.
Our Android friends should show up any minute now.
Introducing The Telegraph Bot and API – with logins, page view stats, and more.
You can now use the @Telegraph bot to log in and manage your Telegraph posts across any number of devices. In addition, this bot can give you page view statistics for any post on Telegraph.
Developers are welcome to use our new Telegraph API to create similar bots for other platforms or standalone tools.
Read more in the Telegram blog:
https://telegram.org/blog/telegraph
Version 3.13 is out for iOS and Android today!
We're introducing a major update to Telegram's Bot Platform: Bots can now offer you rich HTML5 experiences, like games.
For a taste of what's coming, check out the @gamee bot. You can use this bot in inline mode: simply type @gamee in any of your chats to share a game and compete with friends.
Here are a few examples for you to enjoy:
/channel/gamee?game=FootballStar
/channel/gamee?game=MrMuscle
Hundreds of games are coming your way – if you want them. We know you love Telegram because it’s lean and efficient. This is why the new Gaming Platform is strictly optional and won’t add a single byte to the size of our apps. The only thing we're adding today is countless more fun moments in your chats.
Read more in the Telegram blog:
https://telegram.org/blog/games
And check out all those new stickers, they're awesome.
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Telegram for iOS was updated to version 3.10.1 today.
Picture in Picture is now available not just for YouTube and Vimeo videos, but for all videos in Telegram.
Chat preview (formerly only with 3D Touch) is now available for all iOS devices. Simply tap and hold on a chat to preview without opening.
We've also made a few minor improvements and fixed a couple of bugs. The app will no longer crash when sending videos to channels, and if you've seen an indestructible empty chat in the list, it will go away now (try terminating and restarting the app if it lingers).
Stay tuned for more updates on all platforms.
Our new update today introduces Drafts, Picture-in-Picture mode for YouTube and Vimeo videos on iOS, a new built-in video player for Android, as well as design and usability improvements across all our apps.
Read all about version 3.10 here: https://telegram.org/blog/drafts
Version 3.7 just landed in the iOS and Android stores. Supergroups 2.0 are here: now with up to 5,000 members each, supporting pinned messages, public links and new moderation tools to help you keep the bad guys at bay.
Read more in our blog:
https://telegram.org/blog/supergroups5k
Coming to all official apps soon!
Thanks to your support, Telegram now has more than 100 million monthly users. 350 thousand new users join every day – all because you told your friends, family and co-workers about Telegram. Keep spreading the word!
https://telegram.org/blog/100-million
Today's update to our iOS, Android and Desktop apps brings you faster and better GIFs along with a new type of bots. The Windows Phone and OSX native clients will be getting this update soon as well.
GIF Revolution
Animations will now become up to 20x faster when sending and downloading. GIFs will play automatically in your chats (this can be turned off in Settings). We've also added a dedicated GIF tab to the sticker panel. Tap on a GIF (long tap on iOS) to save it to the panel – then send it to friends in just a few taps.
https://telegram.org/blog/gif-revolution
All of our official apps are getting updated with new features today.
Group Admins, Supergroups for up to 1000 members, new In-App Notifications (iOS) and Quick Share buttons (Android and WP).
More about the update:
https://telegram.org/blog/supergroups
We were disturbed to learn that Telegram's public channels were being used by ISIS to spread their propaganda.
We are carefully reviewing all reports sent to us at abuse@telegram.org and are taking appropriate action to block such channels.
As a result, this week alone we blocked 78 ISIS-related channels across 12 languages.
We are also introducing an easier way for our users to report objectionable public content in the upcoming update of Telegram this week.
A new update for our iOS app is just out. Version 3.2.2 offers a new way of sharing messages from channels for everyone and Spotlight search support for iOS 9 users.
We've also added more 3D Touch actions. iPhone 6s users can now open recent chats from their home screens and Peek into chats from the chats list without opening them. Yay.
Download the update here: https://telegram.org/dl/ios
The App Store guardians just let through another update for our iOS app.
Telegram is now fully optimized for iPhones 6s and 6s+, with all the pesky bugs fixed. We've added a few touches of 3D Touch: try the Telegram icon on your main screen and links in messages. We've also enabled Split View and Slide Over for devices that support these features.
With full WatchOS2 support, Watch users can now send voice messages, use quick replies and enjoy greatly increased overall speed. Channels and bots may now also be accessed on the Watch, and we've included a special button for bot commands.
The Telegram Desktop client for Windows, OS X and Linux got updated to version 0.9 today — and supports channels now.
Get it here if you don't have it yet for some reason:
https://desktop.telegram.org
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We've locked our native OS X developer in his room and will give him no food until his app is ready as well. So not long now.
Most of you got here by following the link in the blog, so you already know the basics about channels.
What we didn't mention there is that this is just the beginning, more channel-related stuff is coming in the next updates. And the underlying technology allows for a lot of nifty features. For example, it may become possible to edit your posts in channels in future.
This thing is about to become the official Telegram channel on Telegram.
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