7 Really Good Features On Telegram That WhatsApp Should Have

Alvine Chaparadza

16 July 2019

WhatsApp has brought many adorable features since its inception. It’s now even hard to imagine to use the app without some of the features that we enjoy using today. Despite it’s effort, it still lags by miles from Telegram. Telegram was introduced a little bit later than WhatsApp but it has more exciting and advanced. Some of you once fell in love with Telegram back in January when government shut down social media. Let’s take a look at some of the advanced features that Telegram offers which are not available on WhatsApp.

Telegram Passport

Tired of uploading your I.D. doc scans over and over again? Fret not! Telegram rolled out Telegram Passport, a unified authorization method for services that require your identification. How convenient for someone as lazy as me; all I have to do is upload my docs once and share this data with services that require my identification!

Image credit: Telegram

And if you are a worrywart like me, let me (or rather, Telegram) assure you that no one has access to your private docs except for the parties that you choose to share those docs with. Not even Telegram has access to your private data, as it is protected by a password that only you know.

Telegram also has a Telegram Login Widget (sounds really complicated but it really isn’t). The feature allows you to login on every website that supports signing in with Telegram. When you log in, you will be sending out your Telegram name, username and profile pic to the website owner. Don’t worry, your phone number is still hidden.

The coolest part? Once you allow a bot on website to message you, you can actually interact with the site on Telegram. If you change your mind about the authorization, you can revoke it anytime.

Image credit: Telegram

Telegram Telescope

With Telescope, you can use videos to communicate with all your fans (if you have any, that is). Public videos can be shared outside of Telegram, making them available to anyone who cares. Even those who don’t have Telegram can also view your videos on Facebook or Twitter. Essentially, your fans don’t need a Telegram account to watch the videos you post with Telescope. So you are able to reach an audience that’s not even on Telegram.

With Telescope, public video messages can go viral beyond the Telegram ecosystem. And yes, you heard that right, you don’t need a Telegram account to view them.
Whenever you post a video message to a public channel, it will also be uploaded to Telesco.pe and have a public URL there.

Lock Chats

Still afraid that your nosy parent or partner will snoop into your phone? I don’t know what deep secret you’re trying to hide but Telegram helps you to cover it up.

Okay, so assuming that you have some dark secret to hide, just set a passcode to your chats. Even better, if you set auto-lock time, the chat will lockdown after a certain period. That’s for you lazy and secretive people out there.

Self-destructing private messages

While using end-to-end encryption may be enough security for most of your messages in Telegram, you can go a step beyond this by sending messages that disappear after an allotted amount of time.

Image credit: Telegram

This prevents you from having to manually delete the message at a later time, so you can send it and forget it without worrying about whether or not it’s still out there.

Editing sent messages

If you are that type of a person who talks (send messages) before thinking then Telegram is your go-to app. With the “Edit Messages” feature you are able to edit messages that have already been sent which saves you from being embarrassed.

‘Last Seen’ as you want it

Ever gotten into trouble with your boyfriend/girlfriend for not replying their messages even though you were online? Save yourself from trouble and heartache by hiding your last seen time! You can specify who will see your ‘last seen’ time. Add as many exceptions as you want: your coworker, your obsessive partner and so forth.