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Telegram Desktop reaches version 1.0

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Re: Telegram Desktop reaches version 1.0

#61

Post by dbrgn »

wtfhacker wrote: post #36
lucb1e wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> PSA: Telegram is dangerous snake oil 1. They don't claim to do end to end crypto unless you use the secret chats 2. The secret chats still aren't broken. Since 2013, I'd think at least one "crypto expert" (which all said a custom protocol was a bad idea) would have taken the effort to prove it by now. 3. Whatsapp claims to have better encryption, and they probably do, but it's 1) a lot less convenient and 2) unveri…

4. Open source, you say? Technically, yes. But in fact they love to abandon github repos while still releasing new versions. Take a look at iOS sources: https://github.com/peter-iakovlev/Telegram/

The Android source code repo is also several months behind the released version.

They simply do a code dump every few months.

Re: Telegram Desktop reaches version 1.0

#62

Post by nicolapcweek94 »

lucb1e wrote: post #30
edem wrote: post #2

Can I connect it to Skype/Facebook/IRC?

IRC: kind of, you can have a bot that joins a Telegram group and the IRC channel and forwards messages. It's getting more and more common. Other than bots, the client is really a Telegram client, not something like Pidgin. Personally I don't mind, since everyone's on Telegram. I actually prefer to have a client that's excellent with one network rather than a client that does quite well with many networks. Having used…

Well, Skype has recently introduced a bot API ([1]), integrable with the azure bot framework thingy ([2]) that also works with Telegram/Slack/FB Messenger/MS Teams, so I guess (though I haven't looked into it, let alone tried) you could probably make a gateway between all of those

[1]: https://www.skype.com/en/developer/ [2]: https://dev.botframework.com/

Re: Telegram Desktop reaches version 1.0

#63

Post by d33 »

akjainaj wrote: post #31
jhasse wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least that's what they tell you. We can't know for sure because it's closed-source.

WhatsApp is as closed as the version of Telegram you download from the (App|Play) Store. Before you say "but I can compile it myself", think of how many people will ever bother to do that.

One would do in order to unearth any backdoors. In case of WhatsApp, that would be more difficult.

Re: Telegram Desktop reaches version 1.0

#64

Post by jhasse »

akjainaj wrote: post #31
jhasse wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least that's what they tell you. We can't know for sure because it's closed-source.

WhatsApp is as closed as the version of Telegram you download from the (App|Play) Store. Before you say "but I can compile it myself", think of how many people will ever bother to do that.

You can download it from F-Droid where they will compile it from the source for you. Yes, only very few people will use that version, too. But with that logic there isn't any reason for open-source at all.

Re: Telegram Desktop reaches version 1.0

#65

Post by dbrgn »

hn159753 wrote: post #7
sneak wrote: post #6

PSA: Telegram is dangerous snake oil—bad crypto. Don't use it, don't let friends use it. https://twitter.com/matthew_d_green/status/81899003583181619... https://twitter.com/kaepora/status/819181464369577984 https://twitter.com/matthew_d_green/status/81919238137120358...

I was just about to post something similar. I'm actually surprised to see a positive post of Telegram on HN. For the love of crypto, please stick to Signal protocol-based messaging applications. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_Protocol Edit: add link http://www.cryptofails.com/post/70546720222/telegrams-crypta...

The Signal desktop-app stores all messages unencrypted on the filesystem: https://github.com/WhisperSystems/Signal-Desktop/issues/1017

Re: Telegram Desktop reaches version 1.0

#66

Post by FabHK »

hn159753 wrote: post #28
Freak_NL wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are there any Signal-based messaging applications that work on the desktop without having to tether an Android or IOS smartphone to it, and without having to use a phone number as identifier?

Facebook Messenger.

Is Facebook Messenger Signal-based (i.e. end-to-end encrypted with a Signal/Axolotl double ratchet) as GP requested?

I somehow doubt it.

EDIT: Oh, I was mistaken, apparently there is an option now. From Wikipedia:

On October 4, 2016, Facebook deployed end-to-end encryption as an optional feature for Facebook Messenger users. It is available in an optional mode called "Secret Conversations" and uses the Signal Protocol.

Re: Telegram Desktop reaches version 1.0

#67

Post by Karrot_Kream »

I love Telegram for the usability more than anything else, and don't really care for the encryption (which I find more of a curiosity).

Telegram hits a few sweet spots with me:

  - Movement between devices is seamless (I can go from my webview in BSD to my Mac OS Native to my iOS native app and not miss a beat).

  - Telegram is very reliable in situations with poor connectivity. This is pure anecdote on my side, but in the most crowded venues I've been to: Messenger, Line, and WhatsApp have performed worse than Telegram.

  - Telegram's API is ridiculously open, even if it's backend source isn't. For most practical purposes, Telegram gives you full access, and is completely okay with you creating a 3rd party client
I've managed to win over a lot of my close friends and family onto Telegram, and while they initially objected over the lack of social proof, the features ended up luring them over, and many of them are not technically literate.

Re: Telegram Desktop reaches version 1.0

#68

Post by ekiara »

Philipp__ wrote: post #4

Native all the way! Opening github page of app and seeing that pink line instead of yellow (line that represents languages used in project) made me smile! I am really surprised they did native app, plus it looks really nice, I tought "sigh, another electron app", but to my surprise I was wrong! Good job for guys at Telegram, respect.

Whats wrong with Electron Apps?

Re: Telegram Desktop reaches version 1.0

#69

Post by throwaway122916 »

FabHK wrote: post #53
Freak_NL wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are there any Signal-based messaging applications that work on the desktop without having to tether an Android or IOS smartphone to it, and without having to use a phone number as identifier?

Wire. * open source, code on github * e2e encryption (apparently derivative of Signal's Axolotl double ratchet) * chat/voice/video, and group chats (all encrypted always) * based in Switzerland, coding out of Berlin * clients for iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Linux, Web * can sign up with phone number or email (or username? Not sure - I think you can find contacts via username, not sure you can sign up without email) *…

I like it, but what about all the tracking?

Things like this: https://github.com/wireapp/wire-desktop/issues/80

Then there is the fact that the client acts as a browser that fetches information from the web automatically without blocking trackers itself. This is leaking metadata and actual data.

Re: Telegram Desktop reaches version 1.0

#70

Post by FabHK »

rampage101 wrote: post #48
sneak wrote: post #6

PSA: Telegram is dangerous snake oil—bad crypto. Don't use it, don't let friends use it. https://twitter.com/matthew_d_green/status/81899003583181619... https://twitter.com/kaepora/status/819181464369577984 https://twitter.com/matthew_d_green/status/81919238137120358...

Interesting because the friend who told me about Telegram said it was more secure other messengers. Does anybody know how many users are on Telegram and who owns them? Can you invest in them?

Founded by Russian founder of VKontakte, Pavel Durov. I believe they're now headquartered in Germany.

See Wikipedia and https://www.securemessagingapps.com

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