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Feature and UX-wise telegram is the goat. The only unfortunate thing is that one of its biggest investors is russian's government wealth fund. Which makes you

Feature and UX-wise telegram is the goat. The only unfortunate thing is that one of its biggest investors is russian's government wealth fund. Which makes you wonder why would they invest in it.

klabb3 3y ago
> […] UX-wise telegram is the goat Insanely so. Only Apple comes close from a “pleasurable” and physically snappy pov. A bit of an apples-oranges comparison, but still. Discord as well I guess but it’s nothing like telegram. Telegram has this strong old-school “app-feel” in a world where everything else feels like an eventual consistency web app with 2 spinners going off at once for simple interactions (thin client with cloud-based source of truth). The details put in to even tiny things like transitions are well thought through, and they almost never feel intrusive or distracting. State is always fresh and no reloading is necessary. Not saying I love everything about telegram, but their UX truly stands out, surprisingly even against big and well funded players like messenger.
- jwells89 3y ago
  I think the main differentiator is that Telegram prioritizes responsiveness and feeling of “solidness” (no blinking frames when loading and the like) in a world where those things are usually written off as unavoidable casualties. It’s similar to the difference between physical products that feel well-considered and well built vs. creaky hollow glossy black plastic Walmart fare.
- blharr 3y ago
  Discord calls are great, but the chat UX is awful in my experience. I'm curious, what do you like about it?
  - klabb3 3y ago
    Yeah I guess the bar is pretty low these days. The UX is very confusing indeed but it is nice looking, snappy and has reduced visual clutter compared to similar apps, imo.
MikusR 3y ago
The only information about wealth fund i found is about them buying 2million worth of bonds second hand. That's about 0.04 percent.
lloeki 3y ago
> The only unfortunate thing is that one of its biggest investors is russian's government wealth fund. AFAIK Telegram investors (via debt bonds) are undisclosed, and I could not find a source backing that statement. Care to share?
sam_lowry_ 3y ago
> russian's government wealth fund You are confusing Telegram with Whatsapp. DST Fund managed by Yuri Milner is one of the biggest Facebook investors, at 12%. See https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/05/world/yuri-milner-facebook-twitter-russia.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/05/world/yuri-milner-faceboo... for details on its Kremlin connections.

Feature and UX-wise telegram is the goat. The only unfortunate thing is that one of its biggest investors is russian's government wealth fund. Which makes you wonder why would they invest in it.

klabb3 3y ago

> […] UX-wise telegram is the goat Insanely so. Only Apple comes close from a “pleasurable” and physically snappy pov. A bit of an apples-oranges comparison, but still. Discord as well I guess but it’s nothing like telegram. Telegram has this strong old-school “app-feel” in a world where everything else feels like an eventual consistency web app with 2 spinners going off at once for simple interactions (thin client with cloud-based source of truth). The details put in to even tiny things like transitions are well thought through, and they almost never feel intrusive or distracting. State is always fresh and no reloading is necessary. Not saying I love everything about telegram, but their UX truly stands out, surprisingly even against big and well funded players like messenger.

jwells89 3y ago
I think the main differentiator is that Telegram prioritizes responsiveness and feeling of “solidness” (no blinking frames when loading and the like) in a world where those things are usually written off as unavoidable casualties. It’s similar to the difference between physical products that feel well-considered and well built vs. creaky hollow glossy black plastic Walmart fare.
blharr 3y ago
Discord calls are great, but the chat UX is awful in my experience. I'm curious, what do you like about it?
- klabb3 3y ago
  Yeah I guess the bar is pretty low these days. The UX is very confusing indeed but it is nice looking, snappy and has reduced visual clutter compared to similar apps, imo.

MikusR 3y ago

The only information about wealth fund i found is about them buying 2million worth of bonds second hand. That's about 0.04 percent.

lloeki 3y ago

> The only unfortunate thing is that one of its biggest investors is russian's government wealth fund. AFAIK Telegram investors (via debt bonds) are undisclosed, and I could not find a source backing that statement. Care to share?

sam_lowry_ 3y ago

> russian's government wealth fund You are confusing Telegram with Whatsapp. DST Fund managed by Yuri Milner is one of the biggest Facebook investors, at 12%. See https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/05/world/yuri-milner-facebook-twitter-russia.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/05/world/yuri-milner-faceboo... for details on its Kremlin connections.