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From my experience, many friends in Iran strongly prefer Telegram even though it is blocked there are WhatsApp (inexplicably, since they are nearly the same ser

From my experience, many friends in Iran strongly prefer Telegram even though it is blocked there are WhatsApp (inexplicably, since they are nearly the same service) isn't. So there does seem to be some brand loyalty in the chat market besides for convenience. I suspect in general their losses were far greater in chat than in Instagram. Most students in the US use both Insta and Snap already and just have some overlapping and some different content on each, so I don't think one being down for a day will seriously bug anyone enough to stop using it.

trenchgun 5y ago
Telegram offers the absolute best user experience IMHO. I would love to use Signal, but I can't really stand it.
- vinay427 5y ago
  Are they competitors? As far as I can tell, Telegram focuses on non-E2EE messaging and is more of an alternative to Facebook Messenger, Google Talk, etc. for non-private messaging. That's fine, but its support for E2EE is incredibly limited compared to Signal (or even WhatsApp), which includes multi-device support, a fairly-functional encrypted backup method especially in the case of Signal, etc.
  - stiltzkin 5y ago
    Usually i find Telegram side by side with Discord for communities groups.
  - prirai 5y ago
    Multi device yes. The unlimited member functionality and seemless sync without having the phone turned on are the biggest pros. Also, in e2e the contents aren't revealed in notifications.
    - vinay427 5y ago
      Assuming I'm interpreting your comment correctly, I'm not sure I understand. Telegram doesn't have the option to backup and restore E2EE chats, let alone sync between devices, unlike Signal and (beta) WhatsApp. It very much feels like an afterthought in Telegram with the focus remaining on usability, compared to the often privacy-first approach of Signal which can come at the cost of end-user functionality. https://tsf.telegram.org/manuals/e2ee-simple https://tsf.telegram.org/manuals/e2ee-simple

trenchgun 5y ago

Telegram offers the absolute best user experience IMHO. I would love to use Signal, but I can't really stand it.

vinay427 5y ago
Are they competitors? As far as I can tell, Telegram focuses on non-E2EE messaging and is more of an alternative to Facebook Messenger, Google Talk, etc. for non-private messaging. That's fine, but its support for E2EE is incredibly limited compared to Signal (or even WhatsApp), which includes multi-device support, a fairly-functional encrypted backup method especially in the case of Signal, etc.
- stiltzkin 5y ago
  Usually i find Telegram side by side with Discord for communities groups.
- prirai 5y ago
  Multi device yes. The unlimited member functionality and seemless sync without having the phone turned on are the biggest pros. Also, in e2e the contents aren't revealed in notifications.
  - vinay427 5y ago
    Assuming I'm interpreting your comment correctly, I'm not sure I understand. Telegram doesn't have the option to backup and restore E2EE chats, let alone sync between devices, unlike Signal and (beta) WhatsApp. It very much feels like an afterthought in Telegram with the focus remaining on usability, compared to the often privacy-first approach of Signal which can come at the cost of end-user functionality. https://tsf.telegram.org/manuals/e2ee-simple https://tsf.telegram.org/manuals/e2ee-simple