I would sincerely rather pay for Telegram or let them launch unobtrusive ads in channels than have Telegram go the way of WhatsApp and be owned by a large tech

I would sincerely rather pay for Telegram or let them launch unobtrusive ads in channels than have Telegram go the way of WhatsApp and be owned by a large tech company. Telegram is the only messaging app I use that routinely gets tangible and useful feature updates and consistently works fast across all devices. Of course it costs money to maintain, and I’m happy to help keep it going.