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Comment by _jomo | Hacker News Reader

Sadly, Telegram is barely what they claim. They're very good at marketing it as an open and secure messenger, but it really is not.

Here is a brief summary: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10639688

I assume the HN folks are already aware of the crypto-wise downsides of Telegram.

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I'm using it because it's really cross-platform, works reliably on Linux, Windows Phone, web (these three are the most problematic when it comes to messengers). Also, it's extremely lightweight and fast.

It's one of the few - if not the only - native, reliable and fast among all major platforms. It just works.

Sure, there's the whole security debacle behind, but all in all, as an instant messenger, it works wonderfully.

I don't use Telegram because of secure messaging, I use it because is clearly superior to WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, and so many people.

It's the closest we have to a user friendly messenger that is not entirely closed. I call that a step in the right direction. No reason to throw out the baby with rhe bathwater.

I use Telegram as a cross-platform alternative to SMS which offers zero security anyway so anything Telegram has is better than what I would get with SMS anyway.

I agree. While I love Telegram's UI/UX and cross-platform functionality to bits, their user support is abysmal, and it feels like the community is evolving into something of a walled garden.

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