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Telegram Messenger

Submitted by Simone Dal Maso, 13 May, 2014
Last updated on 20 June, 2020
Category
Social Networking

Description of App

Pure instant messaging — simple, fast, secure, and synced across all your devices. Over 400 million active users.

FAST: Telegram is the fastest messaging app on the market, connecting people via a unique, distributed network of data centers around the globe.

SYNCED: You can access your messages from all your devices at once. Start typing on your phone and finish the message from your tablet or laptop. Never lose your data again.

UNLIMITED: You can send media and files, without any limits on their type and size. Your entire chat history will require no disk space on your device, and will be securely stored in the Telegram cloud for as long as you need it.

SECURE: We made it our mission to provide the best security combined with ease of use. Everything on Telegram, including chats, groups, media, etc. is encrypted using a combination of 256-bit symmetric AES encryption, 2048-bit RSA encryption, and Diffie–Hellman secure key exchange.

POWERFUL: You can create group chats for up to 200,000 members, share large videos, documents of any type (.DOCX, .MP3, .ZIP, etc.), and even set up bots for specific tasks. It's the perfect tool for hosting online communities and coordinating teamwork.

RELIABLE: Built to deliver your messages in the minimum bytes possible, Telegram is the most reliable messaging system ever made. It works even on the weakest mobile connections.

FUN: Telegram has powerful photo and video editing tools and an open sticker/GIF platform to cater to all your expressive needs.

SIMPLE: While providing an unprecedented array of features, we are taking great care to keep the interface clean. With its minimalist design, Telegram is lean and easy to use.

100% FREE & NO ADS: Telegram is free and will always be free. We are not going to sell ads or introduce subscription fees.

PRIVATE: We take your privacy seriously and will never give third parties access to your data.

For those interested in maximum privacy, Telegram offers Secret Chats. Secret Chat messages can be programmed to self-destruct automatically from both participating devices. This way you can send all types of disappearing content — messages, photos, videos, and even files. Secret Chats use end-to-end encryption to ensure that a message can only be read by its intended recipient.

We keep expanding the boundaries of what you can do with a messaging app. Don’t wait years for older messengers to catch up with Telegram — join the revolution today.

Version

6.2.1

Free or Paid

Free

Apple Watch Support

Yes

Device(s) App Was Tested On

iPhone

iOS Version

13.5.1

Accessibility Comments

AppleVis Editorial Team Update Note:
Changed the accessibility ratings to reflect on users comments.

Original Poster Note:Unfortunately, I'm very near to define this app a disaster, because it is impossible reaching the text field for opening the chat and write.
A work around is disable voiceover, then tap on the low part of the screen until we listen to the classic sound of written characters, then re-enable voiceover, delete what you wrote and write the message.
Really frustrating, also because Voiceover doesn't read message in the chat window!
On the other hand, you can send vocal messages, with an unlabelled button, and it works quite well.

I'm really sorry that developers didn't answer to my requests. if you can, try write to info@telegram.org, or go to settings, make a question, and you will be prompted to chat with someone of the staff, that never answer to me.

VoiceOver Performance

VoiceOver reads most page elements.

Button Labeling

Most buttons are clearly labeled.

Usability

There are some minor accessibility issues with this app, but they are easy to deal with.

Other Comments

It seems that developers are not responsive. Anyway, it is a great app also because there is a Mac Version that is accessible, so you can chat both with your idevice or with your mac.

App Store Link

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/telegram-messenger/id686449807?mt=8

Developer's Website

http://www.telegram.org

Developer's Twitter Username

@telegram

Recommendations

1 people have recommended this app

Most recently recommended by alex wallis 4 years 2 months ago

Options

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Comments

Agree

By Raul

9 years 6 months ago

I wrote to the developers some months ago and there was no response either. I use the Mac version, called messenger for telegram, you can find it on the mac appstore.

Not good

By Aidan JK

8 years 4 months ago

Give this a miss unless you really need to use it for file-sharing. I've just downloaded it and spent a few minutes on it, and you are still not able to enter the text edit box with Voiceover running, or read the messages from left to right in a chat as with iMessage, Messenger or Whatsapp. To write a message, you have to go from the main screen to compose message each time, find the person you were talking to and send the text that way. I think the rating remains accurate: it is usable in the sense that most of its features can be half-used, but to be honest it's such a slow process that you probably needn't bother. I shal persevere but continue to use my charms to persuade people of the merits of Whatsapp for group messaging instead.

what can we do?

By Simone Dal Maso

6 years 11 months ago

Telegram is becoming really popular.
The app is terrible speaking about accessibility, and developers seem not interested. Perhaps if Applevis team can consider to write them...

sign petition for Telegram

By Simone Dal Maso

6 years 9 months ago

Hello, I'm one of the promoter of the petition about Telegram and its inaccessibility. I hope you can help us to spread the news and sign this petition here: https://www.change.org/p/telegram-should-be-accessible-for-visually-impaired

Study Group

By Thu Huong Dao

5 years 4 months ago

Telegram has not improved its accessibility for years! There are many helpful study groups on Telegram, but I fail to access them. There are not so many study groups on WhatsApp though. Very frustrated...

Current version of Telegram for iOS seems to support voiceover.

By db

4 years 9 months ago

Confirmed by Telegram owner/founder: https://twitter.com/alisonc42/status/1100439055320444928 support for Voiceover due in March - Download the latest version - basic messaging works in VoiceOver for iOS!

Telegram VoiceOver support

By alex wallis

4 years 8 months ago

Telegram VoiceOver support has dramatically improved in terms of navigation but there are still glaring issues with the app, in particular one button with no label on the main window of the app, and it seems impossible to manage existing chats after tapping the edit button. does anyone know the procedure for engaging with telegram on accessibility? I assume if I email normal tech support they probably won't have a clue what I am going on about or my report will just be lost in the system.

Twitter

By sockhopsinger

4 years 8 months ago

Try their Twitter name. Be polite ... at first ...

with the latest update

By alex wallis

4 years 2 months ago

with the latest update telegram has improved there accessibility again, there is still an unlabeled button or two, e.g if you get sent a website link, but now deleting messages marking as read and all the other usual things you would want to do with a messaging app is now accessible, as VoiceOver offers an actions rotor for managing chats and messages within chats. the main accessibility rating and information for this app is totally outdated.

that's good to know! hope

By ming

4 years 2 months ago

that's good to know! hope the next version can be more better

Hi everyone.

By Sauro

4 years 2 months ago

Hi everyone.
I do not think we can now define Telegram now as accessible. yet
You cannot scroll through messages within a group, you cannot read the unread messages counter, you cannot read the comments of a message within a group,
you cannot change many settings, etc etc .

Greetings

Sauro

I've sent all of that and

By KE7ZUM

4 years 2 months ago

I've sent all of that and more including the files and now the scheduling messages to telegram.org/support and no go. They don't respond, they don't even say they got the issue. They don't respond on twitter. I'm thinking of leaving this app, but for the fact I run 2 troups on there and I have a podcast channel on there. The app sucks balls on iOs and it appears they don't really care. Oh and they still have not fixed the crashing when deleting a voice clip issue. I sent them a sis diag file and no response.

new update, still no joy

By KE7ZUM

4 years 2 months ago

Well, there was an update today, but, scheduling messages are still inaccessible, the files area is atrocious and don't even get me started on links. They are not taking us seriously. and also removing audio messages what the actions rotor still causes telegram to crash. I sent in my reports in ios 12 when this happened in June, but no go, and it looks like they don't care.

I just got telegram and it's...

By jcdjmac (not verified)

4 years 2 months ago

Hi,
I just got telegram today and it's accessible with VoiceOver. they've made some more enhancements with the UI and you can now delete messages using the actions rotor. I don't use the scheduling feature, I just leave it alone. all in all, very simple and easy to use.

Yeah, I have to see if I

By KE7ZUM

4 years 2 months ago

Yeah, I have to see if I can remove audio messages with out it crashing. Also the files area is still inaccessible last I looked a few weeks ago.

Still inacessible appp

By Vireak

4 years 2 months ago

Dear Everyone!
Personally, I still rate telegram as an inaccessible app in comparison to other major social network out there, at least for now. Unlabeled buttons are still lingering around, while the interface is hard to navigate. I think the telegram should be ashamed for ignoring improving accessibility despite telegram's popularity.

can we change the original post?

By Ramy

4 years 2 months ago

Hi all:
Am using the app from more than 3 months, and all i can say that they are working in improving accessibility, so, it's not fair to say that it's not accessible, do not know if we can change the rate etc according to it's current status?

any other app designed for blinds?

By Ramy

4 years 2 months ago

I need to find a secret chatting app that deals only with blind persons, or at least not known to sighted ones, need to talk to my GF which is totally blind.

Secret chats are not

By KE7ZUM

4 years 2 months ago

Secret chats are not accessible. Use telegram and unigram on the pc. By the way I've reported all the issues we are having to telegram's support and they don't even take the time to answer our emails. We even are part of a telegram group with those folks and they ignore us there as well.

clunky but useable

By Darren Hartland

2 years 11 months ago

Hi,

We've been using the Telegram app for about a week now and it works well if you use in conjunction with the Unigram app for windows 10. the main issue appears to be badly labelled elements and the interface is a little quirky. when focus changes unexpectedly.

A little frustrating, but certainly not enough for me to say forget it.

It could be much better.

By Unregistered User (not verified)

1 year 10 months ago

Hello everybody. Telegram could be a very good app, but the problem is that developers don't care about accessibility and things related to it at all. Even now after so many years it is still not as accessible as it should be, I know that many people want to use this app, but like I said it could be better, it is good for sighted people, but not for the blind, it's partially accessible, which is not enough, not for me at least, because I want to use all the functions that Telegram offers. And now I can't, it's becoming less and less accessible. If there was an accessible iOS Telegram client I might use it, but now I wouldn't even recommend this app, there are better and more secure alternatives. In my opinion Telegram developers are disrespectfull, because they don't even reply to messages if they are related to accessibility, it doesn't matter if they are sent to their support channel, Twitter or e-mail address. If you say something positive about Telegram, especially on Twitter they will react immediately. It's ridiculous. I don't recommend this app. Not now.

Not accessible on iPad

By KE8UPE

1 year 10 months ago

Hi,
I don’t understand at a all why this is, but if you try using the app on an iPad, voiceover won’t read much of anything. At least, that’s the way it was, when I tried it a few months ago.
Can anyone else confirm this?

Workin on iPad is possible, but...

By Sergey

1 year 10 months ago

Yes, using Telegram on iPad is difficult but possible if you need to do this.
You may already notice that list of chats is accessible. But when you select a chat or channel, it appears in the separate part of the screen and this area is not reachable by swiping or by exploring with touch.
To get in to that area you may do one of the following:
1. Select navigation by headings with the rotor and then swipe down with one finger. This witll place you in the window with your selected chat or channel.
2. If you have Braille display or Bluetooth keyboard connected to your iPad, then after selecting chat or channel, go to the bottom of your screen and start moving back. Again you will be placed to the area where your selected chat is displayed. It is also helpful when you need to quickly find an edit field when you need to respond to someone's message.

Hope this helps a bit.

Workin on iPad is possible, but...

By Unregistered User (not verified)

1 year 10 months ago

Or simply put your four finger on the bottom edge of iPad and you can read messages swiping from the and to the start. lol.

I contacted telegram

By Dennis Long

1 year 10 months ago

I reached out to Telegram. I was very nice and professional that usually gets you far. I will say if people reached out like KE7ZUM comments that will not get you far. Saying it sucks balls to a developer is not the way to go. Am I saying KE7ZUM did this? No but I'm saying that sort of response is not how you should approach a dev. We will see.

file sharing broken again

By Unregistered User (not verified)

1 year 8 months ago

The latest update on iphone completely broke the file browser. Good luck sharing anything with your friends. I can't even use the share menu from another app properly.

I noticed that as well

By KE8UPE

1 year 8 months ago

Hi,

I noticed that as well.
I hope they fix it soon.

Sharing menu

By Vsevolod Popov

1 year 8 months ago

Good for you that it was even accessible. I never encountered that it was ever accessible. For me 2 biggest pains when using telegram now is that we're not able to read channels and manage our cache. My telegram app is 4 GB in size. Yes, we are able to clear it, but we cannot manage for how many days this cache will be kept. That really annoys me. Bugs cards are lying on a bug tracker without any changes for a year already, I don't know where to write to be honest.

Downloading file

By Fenrir

11 months 2 weeks ago

Hi, I'm trying to download an audio file but it would only let me listen to it when I double tap. Any workarounds?

RE: Fenrir

By Ricardo Brandão

11 months 2 weeks ago

Good night, friend. To download a song on Telegram, I do it as follows:

A) I find the message regarding the file I want to transfer;

Two) if you have not set the application to automatically download the audio files, you will first have to double-tap the message to play the song.

Three) you can stop playback using the VoiceOver magic ring, two taps with two fingers on the screen;

Four) still positioned over the message containing the song, slide your finger from top to bottom until you hear message options, perform the two-tap gesture with one finger;

Five) now comes the cat's jump: make the swipe gesture with one finger from left to right, to hear the message options, which can be copy, forward, delete, etc. If you don't hear VoiceOver read these options, place your finger in the lower quadrant of the screen that you will find them, then start scanning the. What we are looking for here is the option to select, when you find it, perform two taps with one finger;

Six) after performing two taps on the select option, new options will appear, so start scanning until you find the share option; now you can play this audio file in any application you want, including in the Apple files application, to Save them in iCloud or on your iPhone, as you prefer...

I hope I helped, because I've already suffered a lot trying to save audio files in this application.

Big hug from Ricardo Brandão!!!

contacting telegram

By Dennis Long

11 months 2 weeks ago

Hi, how do you contact telegram? are there any other clients designed specifically for VO that are based on telegram?

scrolling messages, have you a workaround?

By Simone Dal Maso

11 months 2 weeks ago

Hello,
I have a terrible problem managing groups on telegram. For example, there is a chat about commentary screen reader that have hundred of messages per day.
The main focus remains ... well, on june 2022! I'm not able to scroll messages in any way.
So for me it is impossible to reply or read last messages, and I must use Unigram for Windows.
Do you have a workaround?

Re: scrolling messages, have you a workaround?

By Amir

11 months 2 weeks ago

Member of the AppleVis Blog Team

Short answer: no. Long answer: Telegram's accessibility on iOS hugely, shamefully, terribly and disastrously sucks! And this is despite many users' efforts to interact with the development team and file access-oriented bugs. The telegram development team doesn't even listen to these reports. Moreover, it's not just scrolling around 2 or 3 messages. Try sharing something, from an app, with a Telegram contact, and you'll end up getting an inaccessible window. Fortunately Unigram on Windows takes care of these issues, but it can never take the place of native/built-in accessibility for an intrinsically mobile app like Telegram.

is there an accessible telegram client for iOS

By Dennis Long

11 months 2 weeks ago

Is there an accessible telegram client for iOS like unigram?

Yes there sort of is

By Kushal Solanki

11 months 2 weeks ago

Hi.
Yes there is.
It's called bright guide.
It's quite limited in functionality.
Like for sending voice messages you have to $9 for this s't?re.

I will be doing a comparison between iOS and android accessibili

By Dominic

6 months 2 weeks ago

I will download telegram on both an iPhone and an android device.
I will be back soon with my findings. People say accessibility on android when it comes to telgrm is good.

tellagram on ios

By Joshua

6 months 2 weeks ago

hello
I tried tellagram on my iPad and it is usable but not the best compaird to android, example i you can't download a file from a grupe, the files section is unaccessible with voiceover, vo behaves like there is nothing there but on android it works fine, also, on android when someone replies to a message, you will get a preview of the message and you can dubble tap it to go to that message that the person has replied to, but on IOS with voiceover you cant, it will just say reply to message from the user and you can't go to that message.

if we all iOS users continue to contact Telegram accessibility w

By Dennis Long

6 months 2 weeks ago

I have contacted Telegram I would encourage other iOS users to do the same.

Having problem in sending media

By Kaushik

6 months 2 weeks ago

Since Software is getting updated every day I am facing the challenge when I want to send media or I mean to say when I want to attach any video VoiceOver lags and it is very laggy and we cannot select the video which you want to send to that particular person This is the disadvantage of telegram and when we are forwarding from other app to telegram, it will not speak in the homepage of telegram, where we can select whom to send is the issues I am facing so I do not recommend this app.

not recommended but essential

By Ramy

6 months 2 weeks ago

Although i do not recommend Telegram for any blind user, but It is very strong app, so, many companies, schools and many people are using them to organize big channels, host big groups etc.
So, i do not use it for sending to my friends at all, but i should have it for my work.
Wish Whatsapp can be as good as Telegram.

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