
Video Messages and Telescope on Telegram - DLion
https://telegram.org/blog/video-messages-and-telescope
======
CiPHPerCoder
Regular reminder that Telegram's encryption protocol, MTProto, is not secure,
and you should not ever rely on it for privacy. Use Signal or WhatsApp
instead.

[https://eprint.iacr.org/2015/1177.pdf](https://eprint.iacr.org/2015/1177.pdf)

[http://www.cryptofails.com/post/70546720222/telegrams-
crypta...](http://www.cryptofails.com/post/70546720222/telegrams-
cryptanalysis-contest)

~~~
reitanqild
Regular reminder that while CiPHPerCoder might very well be correct about
MTProto - technically speaking - I find the recommendation to just use
Whatsapp weird.

Haven't we agreed that metadata is data?

Isn't everyone aware that Facebook has stopped charging for WhatsApp?

Has anyone presented a good reason for what their reasons for running WhatsApp
for free?

Because I doubt it's because of the goodness of Zuckerbergs heart.

I.e. to spell it out: they find you metadata so valuable they are willing to
spend billions (!) to get hold of them.

Now I guess I wouldn't care much if it wasn't for the fact that WhatsApp used
to be the fantastic. Nice, user friendly, robust and with a sane and user
friendly way to generate income.

~~~
tptacek
The question you're asking isn't really about metadata, but rather who has
custody if it. Your argument is not that WhatsApp is bad because it generates
metadata --- WhatsApp leaks far less data to its provider than Telegram ---
but rather than WhatsApp is bad because what metadata it generates goes to
Facebook.

That's a fine, coherent argument. There are aspects of Scott's comment I
disagree with too --- though I generally think most users are best served by
WhatsApp.

If you don't want to use anything operated by Facebook, use Wire. Wire is
based on Signal's double-ratchet model. It's encrypted by default. Wire's
operators get much less data than Telegram's. Wire is operated out of Europe
--- I don't think this matters but many people do.

The important thing is just that you not use Telegram for secure messaging.
Telegram is deeply unserious about security. There are much better
alternatives. If your friends want to use Telegram to decide which movie to
see tonight, fine: I use Slack too, and Slack is probably only marginally more
secure than Telegram. But don't use either of them for life-and-death secrets.

~~~
reitanqild
Yep. Now we are talking.

I readily admit that I don't trust the Telegram crypto. (And in case anyone
wonders what that means: I might disagree with tptacek in a lot of things but
here I agree. DO NOT use Telegram to send messages that might be dangerous if
leaked.)

My point is that Telegram is good enough for what I use it for. It is probably
more secure than many peoples email and unlike WhatsApp you can use it without
supporting Facebook.

Again: DO NOT trust Telegram with your life. I disagree with tptacek in a
number of issues but I trust him when he talks about crypto.

~~~
CiPHPerCoder
I know a lot of LGBT folks who use Telegram for non-serious stuff. Mostly
shooting the shit, and using stickers for amusing reactions and whatnot.

My original comment probably should've used a semicolon before "Use Signal or
WhatsApp instead."

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castratikron
What I thought was more interesting was the ability to send money to Telegram
bots. Maybe they are trying to take on WeChat as the "everything" app.

~~~
jnmandal
Definitely. This is the biggest development of the recent release. They have
one of the best bot APIs out there but bot developers have been waiting for
this for 2 years.

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penetrarthur
It's amazing how they entered the dense market of messaging apps and with
superior UX, native clients and a bit of luck(brazil banning whatsapp for
couple of days), they managed to get 100m MAU.

~~~
jyrkesh
Totally. All crypto concerns aside--though I am on the side of the fence that
says, while Signal is clearly superior, MTProto still hasn't really been
cracked, and WhatsApp's server-side key reset is a bigger deal--the UX for
Telegram's mobile (iOS AND Android) and Desktop clients (Windows, Mac, AND
Linux) all kick ass. They're blazing fast, sync works phenomenally (except for
secure chats, RIP), the ability to share arbitrary files up to 1500 MBs is
awesome, Instant View is everything FB Instant Articles should have been, and
the (admittedly gray-area copyright) stickers ROCK.

My closest friends/family all use Telegram now because it's just better. When
I want truly secure messaging, I use Signal or PGP

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otalp
Telegram is definitely the most feature-rich, customisable messaging app out
there.

The stuff you can do with it is amazing. Aside from having a true desktop
client not dependant on your phone, I've set it up so that I receive my
favourite comics(XKCD, Dilbert) when a new one releases. I can also see and
delete my mail through another bot, and I can get sport scores too.

The new instant view also opens up links immediately without loading
times(Medium a few other sites only so far, but most major websites are
apparently coming with the new update).

It also allows you to quickly go to any date in a chat you've had with someone
else(What did you talk about on 2nd June 2015?) and it has a self chat feature
which is essentially an unlimited cloud service. Since you can upload files
unto 1.5 GB, you can store links, photos, text and files in your self-chat,
and have it available on all your devices.

~~~
thewhitetulip
May I know how to get xkcd on telegram?

~~~
lavezzi
I would imagine this would be through a personalised bot that you can create
very easily through IFTTT or Zapier.

[https://core.telegram.org/bots](https://core.telegram.org/bots)

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skdotdan
Awesome update.

By the way, any update on how are they planning to make money? It is still
true that they don't plan to make money at all?

~~~
otalp
They've stated that they have enough cash from Durov's funding to last 4-5
years comfortably, and that if they ever need cash, they will introduce non-
essential paid features.

