Now Telegram customers don’t want a cellphone quantity — they will purchase a faux one with crypto

Users had been required to make use of their cell phone quantity to enroll in Telegram, much like different end-to-end encrypted messaging apps like Signal and WhatsApp. While Telegram maintains that your cellphone quantity isn’t seen to unknown folks, it’s nonetheless an identifier that inherently stops you wanting full anonymity.

To get an nameless quantity, you should go buy one by the Fragment blockchain, which you pay for utilizing Toncoin — an offshoot from Telegram’s halted crypto efforts. Unfortunately, for US residents, Fragment doesn’t function within the nation. But if in case you have entry to buy the quantity, it may possibly now be used within the Telegram app. Similarly, the corporate began auctioning shortform and collectible usernames this 12 months, additionally offered with crypto.

On iOS, Telegram doesn’t point out the nameless quantity function within the App Store description. During the signup course of, although, you’ll be able to manually punch within the nation code 888, after which it’ll ask to your nameless quantity. With the newest model of Telegram on Android, nonetheless, “Anonymous Numbers” is within the nations listing.

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 amazing success” that already generated over $50 million in gross sales in lower than a month. According to Durov, thanks to those monetization schemes, “Telegram will be able to pay for the servers, traffic and wages necessary to keep building new features and supporting existing ones. While some other apps consider their users a tool to maximize revenue, we consider revenue a tool to maximize value for our users.”

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: Impossible self-destruct messages. It’s doable to increase this setting to older messages as effectively by going to Settings > Privacy and Security > Auto-Delete Messages. And Telegram’s Topics 2.0 continues its dialogue board model of group messaging however now extends its participation restrict to over 100 folks.

Telegram not too long ago launched new options like voice-to-text video transcriptions and launched its $5-per-month premium service that provides customers extra add capability, no advertisements, and different options. With new auto-delete and SIM card-free account options, this closed-source messaging platform “delivers ultimate privacy,” in line with the corporate.