It's funny to see this towards the top of the comments here. Feels like not that long ago that Telegram updates would be downvotes on HackerNews because "you should never trust an app that designed their own encryption protocol."
It depends on your needs.
I use Telegram like an IRC client, primarily participating in medium/large (20-200 user) group chats. In that sense, I don't really care about encryption because the channels are semi-public anyway. I just want whatever client gives me the best experience.
(On the other hand, if I were discussing sensitive topics, I'd probably pick something else.)
It's about the right UX choices. Speed is a first-tier feature.
…yes, I am aware Telegram does not use the absolute best practices, and at the very least, I imagine it can be cracked wide open by a nation-state intelligence agency.
Which is why, for my occasional super-secret must-be-hush-hush chats, I use other clients. For my day-to-day chats? Telegram. Because, to be privileged, to be flippant: the NSA is welcome to read my texts about what I’m buying at Target this afternoon.
I personally would trust Telegram way more than even Signal for encryption.
Armchair sneering doesnt count for me
https://surveillancevalley.com/blog/government-backed-privac...
https://twitter.com/durov/status/872891017418113024?s=21
Or if you want just a track record of the most RECENT bugs and backdoors that were exploited, look two months ago:
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/01/21/bugs-video-chat-a...
Find me the same for Telegram!
And is the story about from Jan about vulnerabilities in Signal that are absent in Telegram also planted by him? Want to see more incidents like that?