What is the best Telegram client for Android?

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Recs.

Feb 2, 2024

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Updated

Plus Messenger vs Telegram vs Challegram / Telegram X

vs Loopy Telegram Pro Messenger vs Telegram F-Droid vs GetGems vs bettergram vs bgram vs Telegram x vs Nekogram X vs Graph Messenger vs Nekogram vs Vidogram vs Hulugram vs Hulu Plus vs LULU*S Sexy and I Know It Black Jumpsuit

Specs

Platforms

Publisher

End-to-end encryption

Videoconferencing

Media

Audio recording

VoIP

Service integrations

Groups

Video recording

Locationsharing

DIY integrations

Message history

Open source

In-app purchases

Usernames

Message deletion

Cloud sync

Audio/video streaming

Open source backend

Multiplatform

Proxy support

File Size

Unit Testing

Multidevice

Open clients API

Platforms

Web, Android, iOS, Windows, Linux, macOS, BSD, Windows phone, UWP

Publisher

Various companies affiliated with Telegram

End-to-end encryption

Secret chats

Videoconferencing

Yes

Media

images / video / audio / GIFs / stickers / PiP Video / Videomessages

Audio recording

Yes

VoIP

Yes

Service integrations

Through bots

Groups

≤ 100,000

Video recording

Yes

Locationsharing

Live

DIY integrations

Yes

Message history

Yes

Open source

Most clients

In-app purchases

To pay 3rd parties

Usernames

yes

Message deletion

Mutual/timed

Cloud sync

Yes

Audio/video streaming

Only from some clients

Open source backend

Multiplatform

Yes

Proxy support

yes

File Size

2048 MB

Unit Testing

Yes

Multidevice

Cloud

Open clients API

yes

Platforms

Publisher

End-to-end encryption

Videoconferencing

Media

Audio recording

VoIP

Service integrations

Groups

Video recording

Locationsharing

DIY integrations

Message history

Open source

In-app purchases

Usernames

Message deletion

Cloud sync

Audio/video streaming

Open source backend

Multiplatform

Proxy support

File Size

Unit Testing

Multidevice

Open clients API

Platforms

Publisher

End-to-end encryption

Videoconferencing

Media

Audio recording

VoIP

Service integrations

Groups

Video recording

Locationsharing

DIY integrations

Message history

Open source

In-app purchases

Usernames

Message deletion

Cloud sync

Audio/video streaming

Open source backend

Multiplatform

Proxy support

File Size

Unit Testing

Multidevice

Open clients API

Platforms

Publisher

End-to-end encryption

Videoconferencing

Media

Audio recording

VoIP

Service integrations

Groups

Video recording

Locationsharing

DIY integrations

Message history

Open source

In-app purchases

Usernames

Message deletion

Cloud sync

Audio/video streaming

Open source backend

Multiplatform

Proxy support

File Size

Unit Testing

Multidevice

Open clients API

Platforms

Publisher

End-to-end encryption

Videoconferencing

Media

Audio recording

VoIP

Service integrations

Groups

Video recording

Locationsharing

DIY integrations

Message history

Open source

In-app purchases

Usernames

Message deletion

Cloud sync

Audio/video streaming

Open source backend

Multiplatform

Proxy support

File Size

Unit Testing

Multidevice

Open clients API

Platforms

Publisher

End-to-end encryption

Videoconferencing

Media

Audio recording

VoIP

Service integrations

Groups

Video recording

Locationsharing

DIY integrations

Message history

Open source

In-app purchases

Usernames

Message deletion

Cloud sync

Audio/video streaming

Open source backend

Multiplatform

Proxy support

File Size

Unit Testing

Multidevice

Open clients API

Platforms

Publisher

End-to-end encryption

Videoconferencing

Media

Audio recording

VoIP

Service integrations

Groups

Video recording

Locationsharing

DIY integrations

Message history

Open source

In-app purchases

Usernames

Message deletion

Cloud sync

Audio/video streaming

Open source backend

Multiplatform

Proxy support

File Size

Unit Testing

Multidevice

Open clients API

Platforms

Publisher

End-to-end encryption

Videoconferencing

Media

Audio recording

VoIP

Service integrations

Groups

Video recording

Locationsharing

DIY integrations

Message history

Open source

In-app purchases

Usernames

Message deletion

Cloud sync

Audio/video streaming

Open source backend

Multiplatform

Proxy support

File Size

Unit Testing

Multidevice

Open clients API

Platforms

Publisher

End-to-end encryption

Videoconferencing

Media

Audio recording

VoIP

Service integrations

Groups

Video recording

Locationsharing

DIY integrations

Message history

Open source

In-app purchases

Usernames

Message deletion

Cloud sync

Audio/video streaming

Open source backend

Multiplatform

Proxy support

File Size

Unit Testing

Multidevice

Open clients API

Platforms

Android

Publisher

ILMILI

End-to-end encryption

Yes

Videoconferencing

Not

Media

Yes

Audio recording

Yes

VoIP

Yes

Service integrations

Not

Groups

Yes

Video recording

Yes

Locationsharing

Yes

DIY integrations

Unknown

Message history

Yes

Open source

Not

In-app purchases

Not

Usernames

Yes

Message deletion

Yes

Cloud sync

Yes

Audio/video streaming

Yes

Open source backend

Not

Multiplatform

Not

Proxy support

Yes

File Size

Unit Testing

Multidevice

Open clients API

Platforms

Publisher

End-to-end encryption

Videoconferencing

Media

Audio recording

VoIP

Service integrations

Groups

Video recording

Locationsharing

DIY integrations

Message history

Open source

In-app purchases

Usernames

Message deletion

Cloud sync

Audio/video streaming

Open source backend

Multiplatform

Proxy support

File Size

Unit Testing

Multidevice

Open clients API

Platforms

Publisher

End-to-end encryption

Videoconferencing

Media

Audio recording

VoIP

Service integrations

Groups

Video recording

Locationsharing

DIY integrations

Message history

Open source

In-app purchases

Usernames

Message deletion

Cloud sync

Audio/video streaming

Open source backend

Multiplatform

Proxy support

File Size

Unit Testing

Multidevice

Open clients API

Platforms

Publisher

End-to-end encryption

Videoconferencing

Media

Audio recording

VoIP

Service integrations

Groups

Video recording

Locationsharing

DIY integrations

Message history

Open source

In-app purchases

Usernames

Message deletion

Cloud sync

Audio/video streaming

Open source backend

Multiplatform

Proxy support

File Size

Unit Testing

Multidevice

Open clients API

Platforms

Publisher

End-to-end encryption

Videoconferencing

Media

Audio recording

VoIP

Service integrations

Groups

Video recording

Locationsharing

DIY integrations

Message history

Open source

In-app purchases

Usernames

Message deletion

Cloud sync

Audio/video streaming

Open source backend

Multiplatform

Proxy support

File Size

Unit Testing

Multidevice

Open clients API

Platforms

Publisher

End-to-end encryption

Videoconferencing

Media

Audio recording

VoIP

Service integrations

Groups

Video recording

Locationsharing

DIY integrations

Message history

Open source

In-app purchases

Usernames

Message deletion

Cloud sync

Audio/video streaming

Open source backend

Multiplatform

Proxy support

File Size

Unit Testing

Multidevice

Open clients API

Pros + Cons

Pro
Let's you forward messages without quoting

[add description]

Comment

Pro
More tabs

Plus Messenger sorts all your conversations into multiple tabs for easier navigation.

Comment

Pro
Tabbed view

Lets you have multiple tabs for personal chats, groups, channels, bots etc

Comment

Con
New features on Telegram take time to roll out

Sometimes rolling out the new features takes time.

Comment

Pro
Go to first message supported

The feature to go with one click to the very first message of the chat instead of having to scroll up a lot is supported.

Comment

Pro
Themeable

Different themes to choose from in order to personalize how the app looks.

Comment

Pro
Message details

For example - see the exact size of the message - be it a file like a video or a simple text message. Or see the exact timestamp with the year and milliseconds included.

Comment

Pro
Schedule message for when online

Ability to schedule the message to send when the receiver is online

Comment

Pro
Select all chats option

You can select all chats by pressing one button.

Comment

Pro
More icons showing as options

There is less of a need to press on the 3 dots to reach more features because more of them are already shown.

Comment

Pro
Delete from cache directly from the file (video/voice/PDF)

Choose which files to delete from the cache directly from the file, for example, if you have one specific big video you want to delete from the cache this is possible.

Comment

Pro
Private links to messages

Generate private links to messages, these links only work if you have access to the chat.

Comment

Pro
Save original filenames

Able to download and save filenames with their original mame

Comment

Pro
Presence icon in chat list

Shows presence based on last seen directly from the chat list with an icon. (green, light grey, dark grey, black).

Comment

Con
Old API

Telegram doesn't use the latest API.

Comment

Pro
Add to home screen

Add chats to home screen from, even a few in go (batch adding).

Comment

Con
Buggy

There might be more bugs on this version on particular devices - there is no concrete proof of this.

Comment

Con
No option to ignore messages from blocked contacts in group chats

For example, nekogram has this useful feature.

Comment

Pro
Open source client apps

Client apps are open source, making whole service more trustworthy.

Comment

Pro
Multiplatform native client apps

There are native desktop, mobile and web client apps, that are optimized for speed and are light on memory usage.

Comment

Pro
Channels for one way broadcasting

Broadcasting channels suitable for announcing things.

Comment

Pro
Frequent updates, lesser bugs

The official telegram client will always be the best . Of course they will the first to update the new features . others have to wait for more than 2 weeks. Official telegram are almost completely bug free. Will receive support from telegram volunteers, and the installation files will always be lightweight compared to other clients.

Comment

Pro
Cross-platform

Works on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android iOS, Windows Phone, and Firefox OS even. Has a web app that changes it's appearance based on the device it's running on and if it's browser is full screen, etc.

Comment

Pro
Free of cost

The application is available free of cost.

Comment

Pro
@mentions

You can ping people to get their attention by @mentioning them.

Comment

Pro
Secure

Telegram uses an open source MTProto encryption protocol that provides complete end-to-end encryption for secret chats. To show off their confidence in the protocol the company behind Telegram has organized $200,000 and $300,000 challenges to break the encryption. So far there have been no winners.

Comment

Pro
Free and convenient large file sharing

Copy/paste videos, gifs, images, geolocation, documents, and even executable files. Drag over files for practically any time up to 1.5GB in size. Images can be compressed, too.

Comment

Pro
Privacy focused

In addition to the end-to-end encryption that provides privacy to communications, the app also includes self destructing timers for chats, and the ability to permanently delete messages, yours and theirs, from your device.

Comment

Pro
High quality calls

Uses the latest GPL audio codecs, such as Opus, an adaptative high-quality codec that supersedes AAC at any bitrate.

Comment

Pro
Supergroups of up to 200,000 people

In Supergroups, anyone along with admins can delete their messages from all sides. A message can be pinned to the top. All of the user's messages can be deleted by an administrator, and they can be banned and reported as well. Supergroups can have a public link (outside of Asia, due to high spam volumes), which is also a username.

Comment

Pro
Beautiful UI

Very customizable with a lot of clean looking options.

Comment

Con
Font size while typing text is too big and there's no option to resize it

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Desktop app handles HiDPI

The desktop app has a built in setting to scale the UI of the app up to 200% which allows for those with 4k monitors/screens to use the app without scaling issues.

Comment

Pro
Self-destruct messages

Messages can be set on a timer. They will disappear after the timer expires.

Comment

Pro
Popular in the USA

On SimilarWeb you can see that Telegram is on the top 15 among all communication apps.

Comment

Pro
Pinned Messages

You can pin messages to the top of groups or supergroups so members will see them when opening the group.

Comment

Con
Can only be used with a phone number

It is not possible to activate and use Telegram by mail etc. You need a phone number.

Comment

Pro
Customer support is within the app

Although it's volunteer based, but still pretty top-notch if available, which it tends to be.

Comment

Pro
Voice and video messages

You can post voice and video messages if you are too lazy to write text messages.

Comment

Pro
Two-step verification

You can set up an additional password to your account, which can be reset by your email. You don't have to use an email if you do not want to. If you lose access to your email or forget your password, you will be able to reset it via text message if your account is over seven days old and will receive it within a week (in case you recover anything before then).

Comment

Pro
Possible to send photos and videos without compression

[add description]

Comment

Con
Not fully open source

Telegram has an open API and protocol free for everyone, but the backend software is not open source. Therefore 100% privacy can not be evaluated.

Comment

Pro
Pinned messages

You can pin messages to the top of groups or supergroups so members will see them when opening the group.

Comment

Pro
Cloud chat keys are kept in different jurisdiction

Even though encryption used for cloud-based storage (e.g. Gmail, Facebook, iCloud) may not be as secure as end-to-end encryption or zero-knowledge storage, Telegram does the most that it can by holding keys to chats in different jurisdictions, requiring intergovernmental cooperation to obtain the keys. This is aside from whatever other security measures have been taken, of course.

Comment

Pro
Save time with inline bots and link previews

Unfortunately, on the desktop videos don't play, but images are viewable without visiting popular websites like imgur and Instagram. You can play YouTube videos and others within the app, so you don't need to embed code or anything. With inline bots, such as @gif, @pic/bing, @vid/YouTube, etc, you can look things up without leaving the client or chat that you're in. Simply type the name and some keywords and wait for the results to load.

Comment

Con
"Secret Chat" feature is not available for desktop client

Secret chats with end to end encryption are only available on mobile apps.

Comment

Pro
Banned in China

[add description]

Comment

Con
Can only pin 5 chats

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Media messaging

Videos, gifs, images, geolocation, and documents.

Comment

Pro
Unlimited storage

Unlimited number of files can be stored forever on the cloud. You can upload files up to 1.5 GB each.

Comment

Pro
Saved messages

You can write messages to yourself. You can write some notes, add links, and see everything across all your devices.

Comment

Pro
Desktop app handles HIDPI

The desktop app has a built in setting to scale the UI of the app up to 200% which allows for those with 4k monitors/screens to use the app without scaling issues.

Comment

Pro
Easy to search media on group or channel

Everything grouped based on its type.

Comment

Pro
Music player plays even if tgx is closed

The music still played even if tgx closed (not minimized).

Comment

Pro
No mute

No big annoying mute button in channel wall.

Comment

Pro
More cusomizability

You can modify colors of everything, switching to use system font and most importantly changing the emoji set.

Comment

Pro
Bubbleless chat

More space on the screen.

Comment

Con
Not integrated with assistants like Google, Bixby etc

[add description]

Comment

Con
Still no chat groupings

Folders have been in the code for a while, but still not built in by default.

Comment

Con
Annoying vpn options aren't necessary for us users but still get pushed on you

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Lists and memos can be collaborated in real time

Multiple people can be online editing the same list or memo at the same time. This makes it quick and easy to collaborate with others on a single document without needing to worry about which version you are on - as there is only one version that is constantly updating.

Comment

Con
Adds its own channel without warning

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Secure group chats are available

'Secret chats' offer end-to-end encryption, and the Telegram servers don't record any of it. The messages can also be set to self destruct from both devices, removing all records.

Comment

Con
Not a lightweight app

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Fully open source

More trust worthy than the official.

Comment

Pro
Matching UI

No differences between the official and FOSS UI and settings.

Comment

Pro
Dont need Google Play Service

Telegram FOSS have Notification Services, they can running in the background without GPlay Services or another services.

Comment

Con
Slower updates

[add description]

Comment

Con
Emoji is ugly

Using FOSS emoji but this one is not good as IOS emoji -_-

Comment

Con
Not on Google Play

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Has a lot of features that the official app lacks

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Great client

The gestures are really smooth, fluid, and satisfying.

Comment

Con
Locking it is a mess

If you choose to lock telegram x via fingerprint, you can't enter a PIN as a backup option if you choose fingerprint. Just in case your phone won't recognize your finger then great! you're locked out of Telegram X.

Comment

Pro
Expands on nekogram

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Translate

Translate feature for other languages.

Comment

Con
Slightly outdated

But still tries to catch up.

Comment

Con
It has ads

[add description]

Comment

Pro
New and advanced features

You even can custom your chats in the way you want it And it has all other features you can get on other telegrams except ghost mode(mobogram) it also have a market place which is so nice.

Comment

Con
No ghost mode

It doesn't have it but I want it.

Comment