Customers had been required to make use of their cell phone quantity to join Telegram, just like different end-to-end encrypted messaging apps like Sign and WhatsApp. Whereas Telegram maintains that your cellphone quantity is rarely seen to unknown individuals, it’s nonetheless an identifier that inherently stops you wanting full anonymity.
To get an nameless quantity, you want to go buy one by way of the Fragment blockchain, which you pay for utilizing Toncoin — an offshoot from Telegram’s halted crypto efforts. Sadly, for US residents, Fragment doesn’t function within the nation. However in case you have entry to buy the quantity, it could now be used within the Telegram app. Equally, the corporate began auctioning shortform and collectible usernames this yr, additionally bought with crypto.
On iOS, Telegram doesn’t point out the nameless quantity function within the App Retailer description. In the course of the signup course of, although, you’ll be able to manually punch within the nation code 888, after which it’ll ask on your nameless quantity. With the newest model of Telegram on Android, nonetheless, “Nameless Numbers” is within the nations checklist.
There’s in any other case no indication of suppression of the function by Apple, however the firm has blocked new Telegram options earlier than, and Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has criticized Apple for getting updates out too slowly. In messages posted to Telegram, Durov calls Fragment “an incredible success” that already generated over $50 million in gross sales in lower than a month. Based on Durov, thanks to those monetization schemes, “Telegram will have the ability to pay for the servers, visitors and wages essential to hold constructing new options and supporting present ones. Whereas another apps take into account their customers a device to maximise income, we take into account income a device to maximise worth for our customers.”
As for the opposite new additions in model 9.2, Telegram is extending its longtime self-destructing messages function to work on a timer. For all new chats, together with group chats, now you can set a date and time to Mission: Not possible self-destruct messages. It’s doable to increase this setting to older messages as nicely by going to Settings > Privateness and Safety > Auto-Delete Messages. And Telegram’s Subjects 2.0 continues its dialogue board fashion of group messaging however now extends its participation restrict to over 100 individuals.
Telegram just lately launched new options like voice-to-text video transcriptions and launched its $5-per-month premium service that provides customers extra add capability, no adverts, and different options. With new auto-delete and SIM card-free account options, this closed-source messaging platform “delivers final privateness,” based on the corporate.