Telegram is one of the most popular messaging platforms today. So you must know how to use Telegram. It’s not just an alternative to WhatsApp, but it also has features no other apps do. For example, you can search and join public groups on this app.
In this article, you will learn how to use Telegram:
Table of Contents
How To Use The Telegram App?
If all your friends are suddenly joining the app and wish to add you, you will need it on your phone too. The first thing to do is Install the app on your device. For that, go to the app store, download Telegram, and install the app.
Once you have the app installed, here is how you can make the best use of it:
Chat With Your Friends
When you join TG, you will immediately see all your friends that are already using the app on your screen. Just tap on their contact to start a conversation with them. If you don’t see somebody’s contact on the home page, you can search for them by clicking on the magnifying glass icon. This is how you use Telegram to chat with friends. You can also voice call or video call the friend.
Remember, TG’s privacy policy is not as clear as WhatsApp, meaning the chat you are having with a friend might be getting read by their authorities. So if you want privacy, you can try starting a secret chat.
Start A Secret Chat
Secret chats are a feature that lets you have a very private conversation on TG without your messages being read by the app. Due to this lack of privacy, many people prefer not to use this app. What the secret chat feature does is offered in WhatsApp chats by default.
To start a secret chat on TG, follow these steps:
- Open Telegram and tap on the pen icon at the bottom right corner of the screen.
- Select ‘New secret chat’ and select the person you want to start a conversation with.
The chat window will have a green lock when you send them a message in this chat. This chat window will appear separate from the other chat window. So now you will see 2 chat windows with the same person’s name; one will be a secret chat window and one regular.
You can also set self-destruct timer on the secret chat that will make the chat disappear after the set time. Just tap the clock icon on their profile and choose the time.
Create A Telegram Group
Another way you can use Telegram is by creating a group. You can create a group with as many people from your contacts as you want. Again, no privacy is offered regarding group chats as they aren’t end-to-end encrypted, and the app can read all your group chats.
Here are the steps to create a TG group:
- Open Telegram and tap on the pen icon at the bottom right corner of the screen.
- Select ‘New group’ and tap on the names of the people you want to add.
- Tap the arrow at the bottom right corner of the screen and set the group picture and name.
- Finally, tap the tick to create a group.
You can add up to 200,000 group members, and you can add them anytime you want.
Join A Telegram Channel
Telegram channels are kind of like groups, but you can only read messages on a public channel. Channels are informative sources that connect a lot of people with a single topic. There are public channels that are visible on search, and then there are private channels that you need the invitation to if you want to join them.
Here are the steps to join a public channel on Telegram:
- Open Telegram and tap on the magnifying glass icon at the top right corner of the screen.
- Type the channel name and select the channel you want to join.
- Tap Join.
You don’t need any sort of permission to join a public channel. You can search for a certain post in the channel; if the channel is too active, you can mute it too.
Create A Telegram Channel
If you want to share something with users, you can create your own public or private channel. Here are the steps to use Telegram app to create a channel:
- Open Telegram and tap on the pen icon at the bottom right corner of the screen.
- Select ‘New channel’ and tap on ‘Create channel.’
- Set a picture and name for your channel, and write a good description.
- Tap on the tick mark at the top right corner of the screen and choose whether you want the channel to be public or private.
- If you set your channel to public, you must create a link that people can use to join the channel. Once done, tap on the tick.
- Select people from your contact list to join your channel and tap the arrow.
Now whatever you want to broadcast on the channel can be seen by all the members of the channel.
How To Post On Telegram?
If you want to share posts on Telegram, you will need a channel to post in. You can either follow the above steps to create a brand new channel or ask a friend with a channel to promote you to admin on their channel. You need to be an admin in a channel if you want to post on this app. Once you are the admin, you can type your post in the channel.
Telegram is popular for having channels that anyone can join. If you’re wondering how to use Telegram, here is the article for you. It is very useful, but the lack of proper privacy might become an issue. If you are new to this app, you can join channels and groups using chat IDs.