Video Calls and Seven Years of Telegram (original) (raw)

Today marks seven years of Telegram. In 2013, we began as a small app focused on secure messaging and have since grown into a platform with over 400M users. Telegram is now one of the top 10 most-downloaded apps and is used all over the world to stay in touch with family, collaborate with classmates and coordinate coworkers.

We did not reach this milestone on our own – Telegram has never advertised and every user has come to the app because of a recommendation from someone they trust. Strong principles and quality features speak for themselves, and millions of you listened. We've heard you as well, and will continue to develop features that make Telegram much more than just a messaging app. Today we're adding the one you've been asking for – fast and secure video calls.

Video Calls

2020 highlighted the need for face-to-face communication, and our alpha version of video calls is now available on both Android and iOS. You can start a video call from your contact's profile page, and switch video on or off at any time during voice calls. Like all other video content on Telegram, video calls support picture-in-picture mode, allowing you to scroll through chats and multitask while maintaining eye contact.

All video calls are protected with end-to-end encryption. To confirm your connection, compare the four emoji shown on-screen for you and your chat partner – if they match, your call is 100% secured by time-tested encryption also used in Telegram's Secret Chats and Voice Calls. You can find more details on this page.

Our apps for Android and iOS have reproducible builds, so anyone can verify encryption and confirm that their app uses the exact same open source code that we publish with each update.

Video calls will receive more features and improvements in future versions, as we work toward launching group video calls in the coming months. But for this midyear milestone, you can now enjoy a little one-on-one time with those closest to you, whether they're in the other room or on another continent.

More animated emoji

To help you celebrate, we've added another batch of new animated emoji. To get one of these in a chat, simply send a message with a single emoji.

Stay tuned for more updates!

August 14, 2020, The Telegram Team