Telegram chat program - and so much more
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 I figured this needed it's own thread. 
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 OK one kinda draw back... looks like you can only add contacts based on phone numbers.. 
 so is this just a ponzi scheme to get phone numbers?
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 No, because you can add folks to chat based on their @ username. Though you are right, they still don't show up in your contacts list without a Phone number. Edit: Scratch that. I see the potential for your point. 
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 @dafyre said: No, because you can add folks to chat based on their @ username. Though you are right, they still don't show up in your contacts list without a Phone number. that's crazy... 
 so if You don't keep an active chat with that person, you can't find them in the future unless you remember their name.. terrible!
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 Or add them by phone number. 
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 This seems to be more of a chat for people who already know one another through other means. 
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 @dafyre said: This seems to be more of a chat for people who already know one another through other means. As opposed to ChatRoulette 
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 @dafyre said: This seems to be more of a chat for people who already know one another through other means. That seems to fit though, this is supposed to be a secure, encrypted end-to-end chat program right? It doesn't seem like this is a social networking system. 
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 @scottalanmiller said: @dafyre said: This seems to be more of a chat for people who already know one another through other means. As opposed to ChatRoulette 
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 @Dashrender said: OK one kinda draw back... looks like you can only add contacts based on phone numbers.. 
 so is this just a ponzi scheme to get phone numbers?The Japanese messaging app Line required a phone number to setup similar to Telegram. But that system did create a unique "Line ID" that you could then use to add friends and such. Line has since expanded to allow accounts to be create with a FB authenticated login. I found that useful when I wanted to create Line accounts for my daughters to chat with their friends in Japan that had Line. Because my daughters did not have phone numbers yet. 
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 I'm going to try to move my family over to this. I'm tired of our Hangouts/Facebook Messenger mess 
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 It really isn't that bad. I think I like it better than Hangouts in some respects. 
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 Tinkered with Telegram today. It is a pretty nice app. The security features are quite nice and the Secret Chat feature is very interesting. 
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 Found some of you  
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 I think it will be awesome for group chats. I have a group for both of our families and I'm trying to get everyone on it. That way planning is easier, and I hate group sms/mms stuff. 
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 @johnhooks said: I think it will be awesome for group chats. I have a group for both of our families and I'm trying to get everyone on it. That way planning is easier, and I hate group sms/mms stuff. Me too, but I can't imagine talking the family into using anything different.  
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 Okay, I'm on it. Works great on the Linux Mint desktop. 
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 They have a Chrome app also. I installed it in Linux on my chromebook, and then my wife pointed out she just installed the chrome app. 
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 @johnhooks said: They have a Chrome app also. I installed it in Linux on my chromebook, and then my wife pointed out she just installed the chrome app. Yeah, that's important. Without a ChromeApp, it would be pretty weak. 
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 The problem is, the people I want to talk to are either on skype or hangouts or facebook messenger.  







