Telegram is basically the second most used messaging app if we don’t count messenger and other social media direct messaging capabilities. Through the COVID-19 pandemic, the platform saw an increase in users as companies and schools needed to find a way to create a continuous communication channel. Telegram groups have become very popular as a way to keep colleagues in touch. Certainly, a great thing about these messaging apps is that you can use them on different platforms. In this case, we are going to be talking about using Telegram on PC. Is it something that we recommend? Could you use it from foreign PC’s? There are certainly a lot of things to cover.
What makes Telegram different from WhatsApp? Telegram’s own website even tackles this question. They talk about their app being different because it’s lighter for phones and other devices to be able to download. Also, it’s an open code app. This means that developers can create all sorts of unique platforms on the Telegram code. Certainly, this open code feature is one of the reasons why it’s being adapted for professional usage. Different industries are finding features on this app that can help them in their day-to-day. We don’t want to get too much into the code part. Since, this is a much simpler article across the board. These are the topics that we’re going to cover in this article.
- You Need Your Phone To Use Telegram
- How to use Telegram on PC?
- Should You Download the PC App?
- You’re Going To Have Limited Features
- Telegram on PC While Traveling
- Is It Safe?
You Need Your Phone To Use Telegram
We wanted to make sure we put this out there right off the bat. You need to first download the app on your phone and create an account to be able to use Telegram on PC. Currently, there’s no way to be able to create an account directly on the web version or the web app. Essentially the web version of Telegram is a bit of an add-on if you will. It can be a cool thing to be able to answer your Telegram messages from your computer as you’re working. To be able to do that you need to make sure that you create an account, and you have the app all on your phone.
When you’re using your Telegram account on PC you’re going to need to make sure that your phone has a stable internet connection. If for some reason your phone runs out of battery or you just turn it off the web version of Telegram is not going to be able to update. This means that you’re not going to be able to see new messages and the ones that you send are not going to be sent out. Even if you’re using the web version or you’ve downloaded the app we can say that your phone is still the main transmitter of information for Telegram on PC.
Another thing to point out is that to be able to use Telegram on PC your phone is also going to be using up data. Obviously, this isn’t such an issue locally. As we are going to get to though if you thought this was a good idea to save data while abroad, it may not be as clear and dry as many folks would like. Just to recap, you need to make an account on your phone and keep the app active on your phone to be able to use Telegram on PC. Your phone has to have an active internet connection to get the app to work on your computer!
How to use Telegram on PC?
We’ve already been over all of the “requirements” that you need to have. Actually, there’s one more thing that you’re going to need your phone for. To be able to activate Telegram on PC. When you arrive at the Telegram Web app what you’re going to see is a QR code. You need to go to the Telegram app on your phone and find the setting that says Telegram web. There, what’s going to pop up is a QR code reader basically. So what you’re going to need to do is make sure that you read the QR code with your phone.
How are you going to know if the process has worked? This one is very simple. Your phone is going to do a light vibrate when the code gets scanned successfully. What’s going to happen then is that the interface that you see on your phone regularly is going to start popping up on your PC screen. Basically, all of the chats that you have active on your phone app are going to be transferred to the PC version of Telegram. You’re going to be able to send and read texts from your PC from that moment forward.
Is The Whole QR Code Process One That You’ll Have To Repeat Every Time You Want To Log in?
Ideally, no this is not the case. This would be the case if you intentionally logged off whenever you’re finished using the service. Something important to point out here, is that if you’re using your work PC or a computer that maybe isn’t yours per se, like at a library at school or whatever, make sure to log off. You can do so directly from the web app. You hit the settings icon, and it’s going to allow you to log off from there. When you’re using the regular device that is a personal device you can not log off and the session should load every time that you open the web app or load the page back up.
If you forgot to log off directly from the web app you’re going to be able to do so from your phone. On your phone, you can also check your settings. There you are going to be able to see all of the open sessions that you have of Telegram web. You can close any of them that you don’t have access to or that you had in a public device. Speaking of logging in from public devices, is this something that is safe to do? We are going to be tackling that issue here shortly!
You Can Log In On Multiple Devices
This is an article about using Telegram on PC, but we did think it was relevant to include this. Essentially you’re going to be able to use Telegram on different devices through the web browser. The other option that you’re going to have is to download the app on your tablet or even your PC and use it like that. We’ll be getting to this in a bit here. It certainly can make sense though to download the app for use on your tablet. Maybe even more so than your PC.
Should You Download the PC App?
Honestly we’re on the fence with this one. Just because of the advantages that you’re going to be able to obtain by downloading the app on PC. You can use Telegram on PC through the web browser essentially just as efficiently as you would through downloading the app. Without the app you don’t have that problem of all of your apps opening up when you reset or restart your PC. Kind of like what happens with the Spotify app which is so annoying on PC. If you just use the web browser you can quickly switch tabs from whatever it is that you’re doing anyway. Without really having the extra storage usage on your PC from the app. As you can see we’re not fans, but if you are comfortable downloading PC apps go for it!
Our feelings towards the tablet app are completely the opposite. That’s mainly due to how apps tend to look much better on a tablet than your web browser on the same device. Having to switch tabs can be uncomfortable both on your phone and on a tablet. It’s certainly easier to scroll through different apps on these devices. Therefore, our two cents on this is that you probably should look into downloading the app on your tablet. Maybe not so much on the PC version. At the end of the day though it’s a personal decision. Calls through the app on PC could go better than on the web version. In fact at the time of writing you can’t make direct calls on Telegram through the browser. That could be a deciding factor. It’s more of a personal preference issue though.
You’re Going To Have Limited Features
Even Telegram in part of their FAQ section talks about how Telegram on PC is a nice compliment to the app itself. However, if you’re going to use the app on the PC version you are going to have to cope with the fact that this version limits certain features. The biggest issue that has for the most part always plagued the PC versions of these types of apps is that for whatever reason they have decided to incorporate the direct call option to these versions. If you want to make a call through the app you are going to have to make sure that you use your phone.
For a while the use of stickers was also limited on Telegram on PC. These days it’s actually rather easy to create stickers through the web version of Telegram from the pictures that you have saved on your PC. Therefore, although even the company is saying that you’re going to have limited features available with Telegram on PC we do see that many of these features are catching up. Perhaps the main reason why they are still a bit reluctant on the calls has something to do with a deal with mobile service providers.
Telegram on PC While Traveling
If you’re looking at Telegram on PC as a way to save your data when you’re traveling, that probably isn’t going to work. Remember that you need to make sure that your phone is on and has some type of coverage to be able to use the PC version. Therefore, you’d still be using up data from your phone to be able to send messages from your PC. Now, if both devices are connected to a Wi-Fi network you are going to be perfectly fine. In the sense that you’re potentially not at risk of getting hit with roaming fees. Data overages are no joke.
The Trick For No Data Overages
What you could do is essentially leave your phone at home when you travel. You just need to make sure that the phone is always on and has a stable internet connection. If that is the case you can potentially remain signed on even if you take your PC to another country. You’d be able to send Telegram messages without being worried about roaming fees or data overages. When you really look at it the trick is kind of hard to pull off. You would need to leave the phone on and connected to a charger. Maybe you can have someone back home making sure it’s on when you want to use it.
Your phone and your PC device that you’re using the app on don’t need to be on the same internet connection. You just need to make sure that they both have some type of connection in order for things to work as you want them to. Again, the idea is a bit of a stretch. However, if you need to make sure that your account is active for work or something it can definitely be a good idea.
Is Using Telegram on A Computer Safe?
You’re going to be pretty safe within the app. All of the messages that are sent through the app are encrypted. So there really isn’t too much that you should be worried about there. Of course, there are a couple of things that you probably don’t want to be doing in an open network. Most hotels and things of that nature are regularly going to be ok. At the end of the day you’d run some of the same risks that you would checking your emails on these networks. Both Telegram and email service providers have certainly up their game when it comes to security.
What we would advise against is starting a session on a public computer. So like you’re using the computer that is provided to you by a library or a school that you’re surfing the web on. Hacking isn’t necessarily what we would be most worried about in this case. The problem is that if you anciently leave yourself signed in and then leave the place the next person that goes on the site is going to be able to literally look at all of your conversations. That’s obviously not ideal. That would be our biggest fear though. Rather than being hacked or anything like that. It can happen, but you’re essentially just as likely to get your phone hacked or stolen or whatever it may be.
Telegram on PC Conclusion
Activating the web version of Telegram is really easy. For most people they like the idea of having multiple tabs open and having Telegram as one of those tabs. So just scan the QR code with your phone and access the web version. As far as downloading the app that’s entirely up to you and how you like to organize things. For most people just keeping everything in the cloud is going to be more comfortable. That way you want to add to those apps that just pop out of nowhere when you log into your computer. We would definitely say that there is no need to download the app.
Keep in mind that the calling feature is very likely not going to be available for the web version of the app now or in the near future. The thought is that they could definitely incorporate the feature by this point. So it probably means that they are choosing not to do so! There’s that trick that you can use while traveling. For people who need to keep their regular session active for work it can be great. Just make sure that you don’t log off otherwise you’re going to be cooked!
When it comes to safety just be smart about it. Don’t leave your session open in places that you know that you are not going to return to. This goes for both travelers and folks that work or study in different places and therefore sometimes are in front of different computers. Safety shouldn’t be a major issue because the chats are encrypted. One small mistake though could leave your account completely open for other people to view. Granted, you might come across nice people who don’t do anything to you if that happens. Still, try and be careful about where you’re logging in. Above all else, if you’re in a public PC log out before you leave!