good morning buddies,
was reading a blog post and found this interesting one, so thought to share this on my new blog as wel :).
WhatsApp might be a widely used and well known messaging app, but its recent acquisition by Facebook has raised some privacy concerns as well as skepticism about Facebook’s real intentions for that app. Luckily for us, there are many good alternatives and Telegram is one of them.
Telegram is a cloud-based communication app that can be accessed and used from different Android devices (provided they have internet access, that is) with the advantage of needing only one registered phone number. Its creators claim that user privacy is safe and that they will never give personal information to any 3rd party, but if you have doubts about any of the app’s functions it is good to know this is an open source app, which means its code can be audited (just in case, you know).
Once you have installed Telegram, it will look into your contacts and then will list the ones you can communicate with through the app. Once you send a message, a green check mark appears next to the text. At the time that the message is read (i.e. the application has been opened and the text has been seen on the screen), a second checkmark will appear.
Any message you send through the app is encrypted, which makes it harder to spy on. On this respect, Telegram offers a bonus to all users who both value privacy and confidentiality above all things: the “secret chat” option. This option works by encrypting secret messages that leave no trace on the application servers. They can also self-destruct using a time trigger of your choosing.
Access to these chats is only possible from the same device from which has been initiated, thus preventing prying eyes from another terminal (you know who they are, right?). Secret chat notifications do not appear with the received text, as with the normal chat scheme, but only a warning message will appear on your device. Once such conversation is closed, you may no longer send messages to that contact unless you start a new secret chat session.
Telegram’s main functions do not end there, because it lets you access your message history and content from different devices. You can send files up to 1GB in size, send multiple images at once and even create discussion groups of up to 200 participants. Additionally, you get free and unlimited cloud storage for your data.
Using the app’s options, you can enable or disable the animations, customize the sounds and the notifications (for groups or individual contacts), block unwanted users, change the chat background and turn on/off the automatic download of pictures and audio messages. You can also change the font size from 12 to 20.
There is always room for improvements, and Telegram is aware of that. There are constant updates and fixes and I faced no major problems except for the time when I tried to send a somewhat big file (100MB) for testing purposes. It took me 3 failed attempts, but it finally sent the file on the fourth one. Some users were complaining about problems when uploading their profile picture, luckily I didn’t. In any case, things like that can be solved and should not be considered a deal-breaker, especially when you think about the the benefits you could get when it comes to security and privacy.
Because of its open-source nature, there are some unofficial apps that can be downloaded from the PlayStore but I faced some random problems while using them. If it was just me or it is a common thing I cannot tell. I faced no connectivity issues with the official app, though.
Telegram’s latest official version is 1.4.4 and a 9.5MB download on the PlayStore (there is an iOS version too). It will take nearly 13.75MB once it has been installed and will work on devices with Android 2.2 and up. The app has a very low impact on the battery and does not show ads of any kind; its creators say the service will be free forever, with no plans for future annual fees or in-app purchases.
If you never installed a messaging app like this one or if you want to change the one you are currently using, Telegram is an interesting alternative due to the privacy and security options it includes and its open source nature.
Telegram — Free Mobile App of the Week
For Android
Size: 9.5 MB
Download: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.telegram.messenger
For iPhone
Size: 10.3 MB
Download: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/telegram-messenger/id686449807?mt=8
sorse: http://www.techsupportalert.com/
was reading a blog post and found this interesting one, so thought to share this on my new blog as wel :).
WhatsApp might be a widely used and well known messaging app, but its recent acquisition by Facebook has raised some privacy concerns as well as skepticism about Facebook’s real intentions for that app. Luckily for us, there are many good alternatives and Telegram is one of them.
Telegram is a cloud-based communication app that can be accessed and used from different Android devices (provided they have internet access, that is) with the advantage of needing only one registered phone number. Its creators claim that user privacy is safe and that they will never give personal information to any 3rd party, but if you have doubts about any of the app’s functions it is good to know this is an open source app, which means its code can be audited (just in case, you know).
Once you have installed Telegram, it will look into your contacts and then will list the ones you can communicate with through the app. Once you send a message, a green check mark appears next to the text. At the time that the message is read (i.e. the application has been opened and the text has been seen on the screen), a second checkmark will appear.
Any message you send through the app is encrypted, which makes it harder to spy on. On this respect, Telegram offers a bonus to all users who both value privacy and confidentiality above all things: the “secret chat” option. This option works by encrypting secret messages that leave no trace on the application servers. They can also self-destruct using a time trigger of your choosing.
Access to these chats is only possible from the same device from which has been initiated, thus preventing prying eyes from another terminal (you know who they are, right?). Secret chat notifications do not appear with the received text, as with the normal chat scheme, but only a warning message will appear on your device. Once such conversation is closed, you may no longer send messages to that contact unless you start a new secret chat session.
Telegram’s main functions do not end there, because it lets you access your message history and content from different devices. You can send files up to 1GB in size, send multiple images at once and even create discussion groups of up to 200 participants. Additionally, you get free and unlimited cloud storage for your data.
Using the app’s options, you can enable or disable the animations, customize the sounds and the notifications (for groups or individual contacts), block unwanted users, change the chat background and turn on/off the automatic download of pictures and audio messages. You can also change the font size from 12 to 20.
There is always room for improvements, and Telegram is aware of that. There are constant updates and fixes and I faced no major problems except for the time when I tried to send a somewhat big file (100MB) for testing purposes. It took me 3 failed attempts, but it finally sent the file on the fourth one. Some users were complaining about problems when uploading their profile picture, luckily I didn’t. In any case, things like that can be solved and should not be considered a deal-breaker, especially when you think about the the benefits you could get when it comes to security and privacy.
Because of its open-source nature, there are some unofficial apps that can be downloaded from the PlayStore but I faced some random problems while using them. If it was just me or it is a common thing I cannot tell. I faced no connectivity issues with the official app, though.
Telegram’s latest official version is 1.4.4 and a 9.5MB download on the PlayStore (there is an iOS version too). It will take nearly 13.75MB once it has been installed and will work on devices with Android 2.2 and up. The app has a very low impact on the battery and does not show ads of any kind; its creators say the service will be free forever, with no plans for future annual fees or in-app purchases.
If you never installed a messaging app like this one or if you want to change the one you are currently using, Telegram is an interesting alternative due to the privacy and security options it includes and its open source nature.
Telegram — Free Mobile App of the Week
For Android
Size: 9.5 MB
Download: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.telegram.messenger
For iPhone
Size: 10.3 MB
Download: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/telegram-messenger/id686449807?mt=8
sorse: http://www.techsupportalert.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment
Write your comment here!