5 Tips and Tricks Switching to Telegram

Telegram is adding new users in huge numbers following the public backlash against Facebook’s new privacy policy and terms of service update on WhatsApp. Users have to accept the updated terms of service and privacy policies or they will lose their access to the app by February 8, 2021. This move by Facebook caused an uproar with reports claiming that it makes data sharing with Facebook mandatory.

If you have already made the switch and have started using Telegram, here are a few tips and tricks on Telegram to enhances your messaging experience.

1) Enable Secret Chat

Chats on Telegram are user-to-server encrypted, unlike WhatsApp or Signal, which are encrypted user-to-user. However, you can opt-in to something called Secret Chat on Telegram, to bring full end-to-end encryption of chats. Secret Chats are designed to be temporary and do not get saved on Telegram’s servers.

Once the Secret Chat feature is enabled, you also have the option the self-destruct your chats by setting a timer varying from one second to one week. This means that you can make your Telegram secret chats as short-lived as you need.

Forwarding texts or screenshotting and screen recording of messages on a Secret Chat is also blocked by Telegram. As of now, Secret Chat is limited to only one-on-one conversion and does not work for groups.

To start a secret chat, select the contact with whom you want to start a secret chat and open the chatbox. Tap on the top bar of the user’s information > Tap the three-button drop-down menu on the top right corner > Select Start Secret Chat option. A pop-up will confirm if you want a secret chat. Tap Start. This will invite your contact to join the secret chat.

2) Stop being added to any group

Telegram gives you control over who can add you to groups, so no one can add you to a group without your permission. To enable this feature, open Settings > Privacy and Security > Groups > My Contacts > Never Allow.

3) Broadcast messages using a Channel

You can broadcast public messages to large groups of people using Channels. Unlike Groups, Channels don’t have a limit on the number of people who can be added. The messages being sent on the Channel goes in the Channel’s name rather than the individual’s name. To make sure that important messages do not go unread, you can pin those texts inside a Channel. In order to pin a message, tap on it and tap on Pin. This will ensure that the message stays on the top of the Channel before the reader removes them.

4)  Delete messages by the Sender

In Telegram, you can delete messages sent by the other users too. Although this sounds quite unusual, this is for users who prioritise privacy. To delete a received message, select the message from the sender > tap on the delete button > Also delete for XYZ > tap on Delete. This will make sure that the messages by the sender is removed from their device too.

5) Lock your chats

Along with end-to-end encryption, Telegram also allows its users to lock their chats. To enable the passcode lock feature on your Telegram account, go to Settings > Privacy and Security > Passcode Lock, and toggle it on.  Once the passcode lock feature is enabled, you can lock and unlock your chats by tapping on the lock icon on the top right of your Telegram app.

5 Tips and Tricks Switching to Signal

Signal is seeing a huge influx of users who are switching from WhatsApp, as users want to protest about WhatsApp’s new privacy policies, a movement that also got a significant boost when Tesla boss Elon Musk tweeted “Use Signal”. But if you’ve just started using the privacy-focused messaging application then there are quite a few features that you’ll want to know about.

Read on to know the best tips and tricks for Signal that will help make the most out of using the app.

1. Set up a screen lock

Signal has a Screen Lock function so even if your phone is unlocked, you’ll need to be able to access the phone through a PIN, or your phone’s biometric lock, in order to open the Signal app. So even if you were to hand your phone over to someone for any reason, they wouldn’t be able to see your messages.

To do this, go to Settings > Privacy > Toggle Screen Lock on.

2. Turn off Joined Signal notifications

Because a lot of people are joining Signal right now, your phone will start pinging like crazy if a lot of your contacts are getting on board. The good news is that it’s very easy to turn off these notifications, so you can just use the app, without getting bombarded by unnecessary messages.

To do this, go to Settings > Notifications > Toggle Contact Joined Signal off.

3. Blur faces on photos

If you’re concerned about privacy, then you don’t always want to send photos with people’s faces in them, unless you’ve gotten their consent. The workaround is to manually edit the photos which are tedious and time-consuming. Signal has you covered through — the send photos option includes an automatic face blurring tool, and you can also manually swipe out additional parts of the screen to blur — great if you need to send an ID document, for example.

To do this, Tap the + sign > Tap on a picture to send > Tap on the Blur button (which looks like a circle with black and white tiles inside) > Toggle Blur faces. You can draw anywhere on-screen with your finger to blur additional information.

4. Send a disappearing message

WhatsApp recently got disappearing messages, but Signal has had this feature for a long time. These are messages that have a time limit, and then get deleted, so that your conversations remain private.

To do this, open a chat, then enter the menu by tapping on the person’s name > Toggle Disappearing Messages > Slide the timer to set how long the message will last.

5. Set how many times an attachment can be seen

A disappearing chat sets a time limit to a message, but the other person needs to be able to access it during that period. If you’ve set it to something like 5-seconds, then the other person might not see a thing unless they’re actively in the chat with you. Attachment limits is a slightly different way of sending messages more privately. With this setting, you can send a picture or video that can only be seen one time, and once it’s closed, the attachment disappears. So, it can be viewed days or weeks after you sent it, but only the one time.

Credit to 360Gadgets for these tips.