The Telegram beta comes to Windows Phone

Telegram for Windows Phone

With this update, Telegram now has an official client for Windows Phone in 7 languages, including Spanish. Its current interface follows the WhatsApp style, divided into the recent chats section and the contacts section.

We will be able to know the status of the last message sent from the chat list, without entering a specific one. A check mark will appear if our message has been sent, and two when the other person has received it.

In addition, from the contact list you can see the status of all your contacts in real time, without having to update it manually. There's no way to hide your online status, so others will always see it.

When creating a new chat, the application allows us to create a normal group chat or a secret chat. This last type is designed to offer even more secure messaging, since all messages in a secret chat are encrypted from mobile-to-mobile. This means that only you and the recipient can read those messages (no one can decrypt or intercept them, not even Telegram).

It is impossible to forward messages sent in a secret chat, and when you leave the chat the messages are automatically deleted. The last message is also not displayed in the chat list, so it is impossible for someone to read it.

The last difference between a secret chat and a normal one is that in the former the messages are not stored in the Telegram cloudThis means that they will not be available when we access Telegram from other devices either, but also that the communication is totally secure.

As for customization, Telegram for Windows Phone offers the possibility of choosing a background for chats, although not a specific one for each user.

There are 4 static backgrounds to choose from, and one animated one. There is also the possibility of using an image from our albums, or taking a photo with the mobile camera.

Without a doubt, it is an interesting addition, and highly demanded in the Windows Phone version of its direct competitor, WhatsApp. I hope that in the next few days we will see how they respond to this move by Telegram, and if they are really preparing something new for us after the withdrawal of the Windows Phone Store application.

Conclution

Telegram for Windows Phone comes at a delicate moment, in which WhatsApp has been out of the Windows Phone Store for 11 days now. The fact that it arrives now could be more than just a coincidence.

The application is quite good for being a beta, since it even includes features that WhatsApp does not have on Windows Phone, such as the possibility of choosing a chat background. It seems to be stable, and runs smoothly on a Nokia Lumia 520.

I'm also amazed at how quickly you can see if a contact has read your message, or if they're online or not. Showing the information directly when you enter in the application is quite a hit.

Although it is in beta version, it should be mentioned that some things are missing such as the possibility of sending videos from our library, or audio files and voice recordings. Hopefully in the final version all this has been corrected and they add more functions.