Forwarded from Telegram Info English (Roj)
Scams on the Telegram Ad Platform
Yesterday, the first scam channel appeared on the Telegram Ad Platform.
The scammers create hundreds of fake channels which get approved for the Telegram Ad Platform, and then they use them to redirect users to their fraudulent channels.
Requiring companies to pay €2,000,000 has not prevented the platform from scammers which purchase advertisement packages from bigger companies.
Telegram is already aware of the incident and is taking action. Telegram Info Editors recommended a "Report" button for sponsored messages, so it may appear any time soon.
Yesterday, the first scam channel appeared on the Telegram Ad Platform.
The scammers create hundreds of fake channels which get approved for the Telegram Ad Platform, and then they use them to redirect users to their fraudulent channels.
Requiring companies to pay €2,000,000 has not prevented the platform from scammers which purchase advertisement packages from bigger companies.
Telegram is already aware of the incident and is taking action. Telegram Info Editors recommended a "Report" button for sponsored messages, so it may appear any time soon.
Forwarded from Telegram Info English (>_run)
Telegram revokes inactive names
In the last couple of days, Telegram has revoked the public addresses of hundreds of public chats without warning their owners.
In the most of the cases, the affected chats where those which had no content, or no content for over a year.
A close source to Telegram reported that this is a common practice, and that it won't be possible to reoccupy the revoked addresses for a while.
Furthermore, according to the same source, there are plans to reform the public usernames system.
In the last couple of days, Telegram has revoked the public addresses of hundreds of public chats without warning their owners.
In the most of the cases, the affected chats where those which had no content, or no content for over a year.
A close source to Telegram reported that this is a common practice, and that it won't be possible to reoccupy the revoked addresses for a while.
Furthermore, according to the same source, there are plans to reform the public usernames system.
Forwarded from Telegram Beta
UPDATES
🔂 Telegram 8.9.3 for Android
🔂 Telegram 8.9.1 for iOS
• Bug fixes and other minor improvements
• Telegram Emoji Platform, Custom Animated Emoji Packs, Gifting Telegram Premium, and More
@Telegram #Android #iOS
🔂 Telegram 8.9.3 for Android
🔂 Telegram 8.9.1 for iOS
• Bug fixes and other minor improvements
• Telegram Emoji Platform, Custom Animated Emoji Packs, Gifting Telegram Premium, and More
@Telegram #Android #iOS
Forwarded from Utyagram Messenger
⚰️ UtyaGram has come to an end
As all the nice things, they come to an end.
UtyaGram has been the main client for a lot of us for a very long time, we started with revolutionary ideas and we wanted to make our client better day by day.
As you may have noticed in the last months, UtyaGram hasn't been updated anymore, this because we had issues with one of our team members, who lied to us for a very long time and the other developer didn't (and currently doesn't) have time to actively maintain the project anymore, mostly with all the things left behind by the other developer and the Telegram for Android code being not "the best" for maintenance.
As Telegram Premium arrived we considered the idea of declaring our client EOL, there are many things that have been re-introduced by Telegram and that we didn't feel safe having anymore, as we already had issues with Telegram's ToS.
We still think that our client was nice and had really well-implemented features, but we're not able to tell which parts of the code by the developer that we kicked out were written by him and which ones were stolen, so, we won't release any source to respect others' work.
Today is the day, UtyaGram won't be updated anymore.
We're sad, as a team we had lots of fun discussing about features and stuff, we spent money and time for the client, but that isn't anymore enough to keep it up.
Has been a great experience for us, which took us to learning new stuff, and we also loved the community interaction that was the fundamental part of our idea, but as said in the first lines, everything nice has an end.
As all the nice things, they come to an end.
UtyaGram has been the main client for a lot of us for a very long time, we started with revolutionary ideas and we wanted to make our client better day by day.
As you may have noticed in the last months, UtyaGram hasn't been updated anymore, this because we had issues with one of our team members, who lied to us for a very long time and the other developer didn't (and currently doesn't) have time to actively maintain the project anymore, mostly with all the things left behind by the other developer and the Telegram for Android code being not "the best" for maintenance.
As Telegram Premium arrived we considered the idea of declaring our client EOL, there are many things that have been re-introduced by Telegram and that we didn't feel safe having anymore, as we already had issues with Telegram's ToS.
We still think that our client was nice and had really well-implemented features, but we're not able to tell which parts of the code by the developer that we kicked out were written by him and which ones were stolen, so, we won't release any source to respect others' work.
Today is the day, UtyaGram won't be updated anymore.
We're sad, as a team we had lots of fun discussing about features and stuff, we spent money and time for the client, but that isn't anymore enough to keep it up.
Has been a great experience for us, which took us to learning new stuff, and we also loved the community interaction that was the fundamental part of our idea, but as said in the first lines, everything nice has an end.
Forwarded from Telegram Info English (Azer Sadykhzadeh)
You can no longer gift cheap Telegram Premium subscriptions to users from other countries
In the latest update, it became possible to gift a premium subscription to other users. To save money, some users began to gift Premium subscriptions through accounts created using phone numbers from countries where its price was much lower than in other countries.
The Telegram team noticed and made it impossible to do so, and only users with a linked phone number from the same country as yours can gift subscriptions at their regional price. If you gift Telegram Premium to an user residing in a country different than yours, then the prices will be internationalized (for example, in dollars, an annual subscription will cost $35.99).
In the latest update, it became possible to gift a premium subscription to other users. To save money, some users began to gift Premium subscriptions through accounts created using phone numbers from countries where its price was much lower than in other countries.
The Telegram team noticed and made it impossible to do so, and only users with a linked phone number from the same country as yours can gift subscriptions at their regional price. If you gift Telegram Premium to an user residing in a country different than yours, then the prices will be internationalized (for example, in dollars, an annual subscription will cost $35.99).
Forwarded from Pavel Durov
I'm really impressed by the success of the auction TON recently conducted for their domain/wallet names. Wallet.ton was sold for 215,250 Toncoin (~$260000) while casino.ton was sold for ~$244000.
If TON has been able to achieve these results, imagine how successful Telegram with its 700 million users could be if we put reserved @ usernames, group and channel links for auction. In addition to millions of catchy t.me addresses like @storm or @royal, all four-letter usernames could be made available for sale (@bank, @club, @game, @gift etc).
This would create a new platform where username holders could transfer them to interested parties in protected deals – with ownership secured on the blockchain via NFT-like smart-contracts. Other elements of the Telegram ecosystem, including channels, stickers or emoji, could later also become part of this marketplace.
When it comes to scalability and speed, TON probably has the best technology to host such decentralized sales. Our team can write bullet-proof smart contracts for TON (since it was us who invented its smart-contract language), so we are inclined to try out TON as the underlying blockchain for our future marketplace.
Let's see if we can add a little bit of Web 3.0 to Telegram in the coming weeks.
If TON has been able to achieve these results, imagine how successful Telegram with its 700 million users could be if we put reserved @ usernames, group and channel links for auction. In addition to millions of catchy t.me addresses like @storm or @royal, all four-letter usernames could be made available for sale (@bank, @club, @game, @gift etc).
This would create a new platform where username holders could transfer them to interested parties in protected deals – with ownership secured on the blockchain via NFT-like smart-contracts. Other elements of the Telegram ecosystem, including channels, stickers or emoji, could later also become part of this marketplace.
When it comes to scalability and speed, TON probably has the best technology to host such decentralized sales. Our team can write bullet-proof smart contracts for TON (since it was us who invented its smart-contract language), so we are inclined to try out TON as the underlying blockchain for our future marketplace.
Let's see if we can add a little bit of Web 3.0 to Telegram in the coming weeks.
Forwarded from Telegram Info English (Sominemo)
Petition to Return the Revoked Addresses of Telegram Channels
On August 19, Telegram revoked the public addresses of millions of channels around the world without warning their owners.
Those channels were often used as personal portfolios, public archives, and directories, which didn't need to post content often.
The process made many people upset and brought uncertainty to Telegram itself. Such actions without prior agreements with channel owners make Telegram less trustworthy to be used for any project.
The Telegram Info editorial board, @tginfo, and its international volunteers crew demand Telegram to:
• Return the confiscated public addresses back to their owners.
• Notify the owners of inactive channels about such actions.
• Allow users to claim public names that might be at risk.
If you want to participate in the petition, react with a 👍 to this post below and share this post with your audience. This is the only possible way to tell Telegram that the majority of its users are against this action.
Or if you think this action is a reasonable one, you can always react with a 👎, along with your thoughts about its advantages.
Vote here: t.me/tginfoen/1474
On August 19, Telegram revoked the public addresses of millions of channels around the world without warning their owners.
Those channels were often used as personal portfolios, public archives, and directories, which didn't need to post content often.
The process made many people upset and brought uncertainty to Telegram itself. Such actions without prior agreements with channel owners make Telegram less trustworthy to be used for any project.
The Telegram Info editorial board, @tginfo, and its international volunteers crew demand Telegram to:
• Return the confiscated public addresses back to their owners.
• Notify the owners of inactive channels about such actions.
• Allow users to claim public names that might be at risk.
If you want to participate in the petition, react with a 👍 to this post below and share this post with your audience. This is the only possible way to tell Telegram that the majority of its users are against this action.
Or if you think this action is a reasonable one, you can always react with a 👎, along with your thoughts about its advantages.
Vote here: t.me/tginfoen/1474
Forwarded from Pavel Durov
Until recently, 70% of all Telegram usernames had been reserved in inactive channels by cybersquatters from Iran. This created a graveyard of dead usernames that cluttered search results and prevented millions of Telegram users from selecting appropriate public addresses for their accounts, groups and channels.
Users who wanted to acquire these reserved usernames often received no response or ended up being scammed.
Fortunately, this situation has started to change. In mid-August, we withdrew all public Telegram addresses linked to channels that were empty or inactive for the last year. We will gradually reintroduce 99% of these addresses into public use, this time with algorithmic and geolocation limitations so that more users, and not just a select few, can benefit.
As for the highest-valued short usernames, the most efficient and fair way to distribute them seems to be by the auction I mentioned in my previous post. This way, those who acquire these catchy links will be motivated to put them to good use and bring value to our users with original content hosted at recognizable t.me addresses.
I don't doubt that those who hoarded Telegram usernames are disappointed, but this change will benefit the vast majority of our users. I look forward to seeing how millions of great Telegram addresses will be revived and finally start serving our community.
P.S. In anticipation of the things to come, today we are adding support for dedicated links like username.t.me for every username on Telegram (in addition to t.me/username). These web sites are already functional in any browser.
Users who wanted to acquire these reserved usernames often received no response or ended up being scammed.
Fortunately, this situation has started to change. In mid-August, we withdrew all public Telegram addresses linked to channels that were empty or inactive for the last year. We will gradually reintroduce 99% of these addresses into public use, this time with algorithmic and geolocation limitations so that more users, and not just a select few, can benefit.
As for the highest-valued short usernames, the most efficient and fair way to distribute them seems to be by the auction I mentioned in my previous post. This way, those who acquire these catchy links will be motivated to put them to good use and bring value to our users with original content hosted at recognizable t.me addresses.
I don't doubt that those who hoarded Telegram usernames are disappointed, but this change will benefit the vast majority of our users. I look forward to seeing how millions of great Telegram addresses will be revived and finally start serving our community.
P.S. In anticipation of the things to come, today we are adding support for dedicated links like username.t.me for every username on Telegram (in addition to t.me/username). These web sites are already functional in any browser.
Forwarded from Telegram Info English (Sominemo)
New link format in Telegram
Today Telegram launches link format for public usernames. Now every user can use public links like tginfoen.t.me and https://tginfoen.t.me.
The only real difference from the classic t.me/username link is that the username is at the beginning of the URL.
Such links are already working in all browsers, according to the Durov's channel.
Today Telegram launches link format for public usernames. Now every user can use public links like tginfoen.t.me and https://tginfoen.t.me.
The only real difference from the classic t.me/username link is that the username is at the beginning of the URL.
Such links are already working in all browsers, according to the Durov's channel.
Forwarded from Telegram Info English (Sominemo)
Pavel Durov promises to return 99% of seized usernames into general availability
Pavel Durov made a post on his channel, claiming that 70% of all public addresses were taken by Iranian cybersquatters.
“In mid-August, we withdrew all public Telegram addresses linked to channels that were empty or inactive for the last year. We will gradually reintroduce 99% of these addresses into public use, this time with algorithmic and geolocation limitations so that more users, and not just a select few, can benefit,” — Durov announced.
It's important to note that there is no guarantee the revoked usernames will be available to be claimed back by their original owners. Returning these names into general availability imposes a new era of cybersquatting.
At the same time Pavel Durov finds the earlier suggested way of distributing the usernames to be the most optimal and fair:
“This way, those who acquire these catchy links will be motivated to put them to good use and bring value to our users with original content hosted at recognizable t.me addresses.”
In anticipation of the things to come, Telegram introduced the new link format, which we announced here.
Pavel Durov made a post on his channel, claiming that 70% of all public addresses were taken by Iranian cybersquatters.
“In mid-August, we withdrew all public Telegram addresses linked to channels that were empty or inactive for the last year. We will gradually reintroduce 99% of these addresses into public use, this time with algorithmic and geolocation limitations so that more users, and not just a select few, can benefit,” — Durov announced.
It's important to note that there is no guarantee the revoked usernames will be available to be claimed back by their original owners. Returning these names into general availability imposes a new era of cybersquatting.
At the same time Pavel Durov finds the earlier suggested way of distributing the usernames to be the most optimal and fair:
“This way, those who acquire these catchy links will be motivated to put them to good use and bring value to our users with original content hosted at recognizable t.me addresses.”
In anticipation of the things to come, Telegram introduced the new link format, which we announced here.
Forwarded from Telegram Info English (Sominemo)
Local Transcription on iOS
“Durov's Code” editors noticed (in Russian) you can use voice recognition engine from Apple on Telegram for iOS.
The feature has appeared in the June update together with Telegram Premium and is intended for testing.
By default, your speech is turned into text on Google Cloud server on your demand. Google's technology is used by Telegram to provide a high-quality service in many languages.
The Local Transcription option uses Apple's engine built into your iPhone or iPad. This way, the feature turns audio into text right on your device without sending data to Apple servers.
Apple's engine has lower recognition quality compared to Google's cloud recognition, especially in less popular languages. It also can't recognize longer messages, yet it works faster.
It makes sense to enable the option only if you need faster recognition at the price of getting a lower quality transcription, or if you have no Internet. The feature is unavailable without Telegram Premium and doesn't work in Secret Chats.
No need to be afraid of Google Cloud's voice recognition: despite of a lot of concerns, the company is not interested in Telegram users' messages. The agreements Google signs with other businesses to provide its Cloud services have an extremely strict privacy policy, so your voice messages are sent from Telegram's servers directly only to be transcribed once. You can read in more detail about why Google doesn't want Telegram users' voice messages in “Durov's Code” article (in Russian).
How to enable Local Transcription in Telegram for iOS
• Quickly tap the Settings icon 10 times in a row (or your profile picture if you have multiple accounts).
• The Debug menu will open. Find Local Transcription toggle and turn it on. We do not recommend you changing any other options in this menu.
“Durov's Code” editors noticed (in Russian) you can use voice recognition engine from Apple on Telegram for iOS.
The feature has appeared in the June update together with Telegram Premium and is intended for testing.
By default, your speech is turned into text on Google Cloud server on your demand. Google's technology is used by Telegram to provide a high-quality service in many languages.
The Local Transcription option uses Apple's engine built into your iPhone or iPad. This way, the feature turns audio into text right on your device without sending data to Apple servers.
Apple's engine has lower recognition quality compared to Google's cloud recognition, especially in less popular languages. It also can't recognize longer messages, yet it works faster.
It makes sense to enable the option only if you need faster recognition at the price of getting a lower quality transcription, or if you have no Internet. The feature is unavailable without Telegram Premium and doesn't work in Secret Chats.
No need to be afraid of Google Cloud's voice recognition: despite of a lot of concerns, the company is not interested in Telegram users' messages. The agreements Google signs with other businesses to provide its Cloud services have an extremely strict privacy policy, so your voice messages are sent from Telegram's servers directly only to be transcribed once. You can read in more detail about why Google doesn't want Telegram users' voice messages in “Durov's Code” article (in Russian).
How to enable Local Transcription in Telegram for iOS
• Quickly tap the Settings icon 10 times in a row (or your profile picture if you have multiple accounts).
• The Debug menu will open. Find Local Transcription toggle and turn it on. We do not recommend you changing any other options in this menu.
Forwarded from Telegram Info English (Sominemo)
Telegram user data disclosure policy in Germany
Users in Germany received a message from Telegram's service account. The messenger team decided to find out whether German users support the app's current Privacy Policy and whether they want to reduce or increase the number of times Telegram could potentially disclose data to the country's authorities, including the police.
“However, to prevent terrorist groups from misusing our platform, our Privacy Policy in place since 2018 allows us to disclose the IP addresses and phone numbers of suspected terrorists at the request of the government, supported by a court order,” the messenger team reminds.
To find out the opinion of the users Telegram decided to open survey, in which only users with German phone numbers can take part. Three different options were given to choose from:
OPTION 1: No change. Telegram will still be allowed to hand over the IP addresses and phone numbers of suspected terrorists only on the basis of a court decision. This option is already included in Telegram's current Privacy Policy.
OPTION 2: At the request of German police authorities, Telegram may disclose the IP addresses and phone numbers of suspected users, even if not confirmed by a court decision. This option, if approved, would be entirely new for Telegram and would therefore require changes to our Privacy Policy for German users.
OPTION 3: Telegram is not allowed to share user information under any circumstances, including the IP addresses and phone numbers of suspected terrorists. If this option is chosen, Telegram would change its data structure and Privacy Policy for German users.
The poll is active until 5th of September, 10:00 UTC.
It was previously reported that the German government had agreed with Telegram executives to further cooperate and continue to exchange views.
#Germany
Users in Germany received a message from Telegram's service account. The messenger team decided to find out whether German users support the app's current Privacy Policy and whether they want to reduce or increase the number of times Telegram could potentially disclose data to the country's authorities, including the police.
“However, to prevent terrorist groups from misusing our platform, our Privacy Policy in place since 2018 allows us to disclose the IP addresses and phone numbers of suspected terrorists at the request of the government, supported by a court order,” the messenger team reminds.
To find out the opinion of the users Telegram decided to open survey, in which only users with German phone numbers can take part. Three different options were given to choose from:
OPTION 1: No change. Telegram will still be allowed to hand over the IP addresses and phone numbers of suspected terrorists only on the basis of a court decision. This option is already included in Telegram's current Privacy Policy.
OPTION 2: At the request of German police authorities, Telegram may disclose the IP addresses and phone numbers of suspected users, even if not confirmed by a court decision. This option, if approved, would be entirely new for Telegram and would therefore require changes to our Privacy Policy for German users.
OPTION 3: Telegram is not allowed to share user information under any circumstances, including the IP addresses and phone numbers of suspected terrorists. If this option is chosen, Telegram would change its data structure and Privacy Policy for German users.
The poll is active until 5th of September, 10:00 UTC.
It was previously reported that the German government had agreed with Telegram executives to further cooperate and continue to exchange views.
#Germany
Forwarded from WebK Channel
Media is too big
VIEW IN TELEGRAM
Custom Emoji are live on WebK – view only at the moment, making all related "unsupported message" entities gone for you. The Redesigned ESG (aka Emoji • Stickers • GIFs) panel is coming within the next several days.
Forwarded from Telegram Web A
Telegram Web Z was updated to version 1.51
👏 Harder
• Custom Animated Emoji: Messages with custom emoji are now viewable.
• Gifting Telegram Premium: Premium users can send friends, family, and coworkers a prepaid subscription from their profile for 3, 6, or 12 months – at a discount.
• Privacy Settings for Voice Messages: Control who can send you voice and video messages with Telegram Premium.
🚀 Faster
• Increased download speed.
• Optimized Premium modal.
💪 Stronger
• Fixed ‘No File’ error when downloading media.
• Fixed issues with hiding video controls.
• Various RTL layout fixes.
• Fixed scrolling with mouse wheel inside horizontal containers.
• Fixed jumping text cursor on Windows.
• Fixed display problems with the ‘Next’ button in payments.
• Fixed voting in polls on mobile devices triggering a quick reaction.
• Fixed page reload when rotating device during a call.
• Fixed hanging calls after signing out.
• Fixed copying message content and removed the ‘Report’ option in scheduled messages.
• Small fixes and improvements for bots running web apps.
@webztalks
• Custom Animated Emoji: Messages with custom emoji are now viewable.
• Gifting Telegram Premium: Premium users can send friends, family, and coworkers a prepaid subscription from their profile for 3, 6, or 12 months – at a discount.
• Privacy Settings for Voice Messages: Control who can send you voice and video messages with Telegram Premium.
• Increased download speed.
• Optimized Premium modal.
• Fixed ‘No File’ error when downloading media.
• Fixed issues with hiding video controls.
• Various RTL layout fixes.
• Fixed scrolling with mouse wheel inside horizontal containers.
• Fixed jumping text cursor on Windows.
• Fixed display problems with the ‘Next’ button in payments.
• Fixed voting in polls on mobile devices triggering a quick reaction.
• Fixed page reload when rotating device during a call.
• Fixed hanging calls after signing out.
• Fixed copying message content and removed the ‘Report’ option in scheduled messages.
• Small fixes and improvements for bots running web apps.
@webztalks
Please open Telegram to view this post
VIEW IN TELEGRAM
Forwarded from Telegram Info English (Azer Sadykhzadeh)
What to expect from the upcoming version of Telegram for Android
Yesterday a new beta version of Telegram for Android was released, it includes the following new features:
— Profile Status: custom emojis in profile
— Custom Reactions and react to the same message multiple times
— Updated reactions settings in groups
— Themed Icon
— Prioritizing Downloads
— New Media Browsing Animations
— Premium Badge in Chats
— Copying Custom Emojis
Detailed descriptions of the listed features are at Beta Info.
#Android
Yesterday a new beta version of Telegram for Android was released, it includes the following new features:
— Profile Status: custom emojis in profile
— Custom Reactions and react to the same message multiple times
— Updated reactions settings in groups
— Themed Icon
— Prioritizing Downloads
— New Media Browsing Animations
— Premium Badge in Chats
— Copying Custom Emojis
Detailed descriptions of the listed features are at Beta Info.
#Android
Forwarded from Daniel
Is that zoom in/zoom out effect on pictures in chat also new?
Forwarded from Maciek
Telegram-FAQ-AND-updates
Is that zoom in/zoom out effect on pictures in chat also new?
Yes