WhatsApp is the most popular chat app in the Netherlands, but that doesn’t make it the best. Especially the close relationship with Facebook (now Meta) does not sit well with many people. In recent years, alternatives such as Telegram and Signal have grown strongly. Telegram lets you chat with friends and family just like in WhatsApp, but is just a bit more extensive. Why should you trade WhatsApp for Telegram? We explain it in this article.
- What is Telegram?
- #1 Usernames in Telegram
- #2 Better group conversations
- #3 Telegram on desktop, iPad and iPod
- #4 Telegram on the Apple Watch
- #5 Telegram bots
- #6 Send any type of file, even large files
- #7 Channels in Telegram
- #8 Faster development process
- Convince your group of friends
Telegram may not be the best solution for you. You could also take a look at Signal, which we are also a fan of and which is slightly better arranged in terms of privacy.
What is Telegram?
Telegram is a chat app, similar to iMessage or WhatsApp. You can chat with your friends via an internet connection, so this is not at the expense of your SMS bundle. There are no further costs involved.
The company behind Telegram was founded by Russian brothers Nikolai and Pavel Durov. They were previously responsible for the VK social network – a Russian variant of Facebook. Telegram therefore has Russian roots, but is also a German app: the two brothers now live in Germany and have established Telegram’s headquarters in Berlin. Telegram’s servers are also located in Europe, while WhatsApp’s are located in the United States.
Although WhatsApp and Telegram are similar, they do differ in a number of ways.
#1 Usernames in Telegram
Telegram, like WhatsApp, uses your phone number and address book to help you find friends, but it’s not the only option. It is also possible to register a username in the settings of the app. You can give this username to other Telegram users, so you no longer have to give everyone your phone number. This has another practical advantage: if you have a new phone number, you can easily keep in touch with your Telegram friends by logging in with your username. You can also refer people to your Telegram account by linking your username. The url Telegram.me/gebruikersnaam let people message you quickly.
#2 Better group conversations
You can have group conversations in Telegram, so that you can, for example, send a message to all your family members at once. A feature that is also in WhatsApp, but Telegram’s group chats are much more extensive. With the help of hashtags, reactions and usernames, a chat becomes much clearer.
You can use another Telegram user’s username in a group chat. You do this by typing an @, followed by the relevant username. The person in question will then always see your message in a notification – even if this person has disabled the push messages of this chat. This makes Telegram ideal for busy chats. You can simply turn off the notifications and someone can call you by name when you are needed.
Posts are easy to find on Telegram using hashtags. You tap the # button, after which you can enter a keyword of your own choosing. You can press this word later to find all other posts with this tag.
Finally, you can respond specifically to messages in Telegram. You do this by pressing and holding a message, after which you press Reply. The message you’re replying to will appear above your comment, so everyone can see exactly what you’re talking about. Ideal if a busy chat discusses several topics at the same time.
#3 Telegram on desktop, iPad and iPod
Telegram has long had the advantage of having a dedicated app for the desktop. WhatsApp for Mac only became available at a much later date and is much less well thought out. Moreover, there is still no official app for the iPad. Telegram’s alternative works much better. By installing the Telegram desktop app, you can just as easily chat with friends and family from a computer. The desktop version of Telegram works on all major platforms: you can download the chat program for Windows, macOS and Linux. Don’t feel like installing programs? Then Telegram also has a web version to use on your computer.
In addition to the desktop, Telegram also works on iPads and iPods. The app is universal and can be installed on anything, without needing a phone number to verify your account. A big advantage compared to WhatsApp, whose Mac app can only be activated with a QR code from your iPhone.
#4 Telegram on the Apple Watch
Telegram has an app for the Apple Watch that allows you to read chats from the Watch. That is a lot more convenient than the usual notifications: after all, you get to see the entire chat, instead of just the most recent messages. In addition, you can send quick, predetermined responses. You can open the app from the notifications of the Apple Watch.
However, even without an app, Telegram is useful on the Apple Watch. With the interactive notifications you can also send a thumbs up, so that you quickly confirm that you have read a message. It is also possible to mute a chat for an hour from the notification, so that you do not receive any messages for a while.
#5 Telegram bots
Chats in Telegram can become even more informative if you use bots. By adding one of these chatbots to a conversation, you can do anything with simple commands. A bot is a program that can perform all kinds of tasks. For example, an image bot can automatically retrieve images.
Fancy a funny picture? Then you invite the ImageBot, after which you place a gif animation in the chat with the command /getgif. Looking for new Telegram friends? You can then start a conversation with the HotOrBot, a kind of Tinder for other Telegram users. With the Dutch TeletextBot you can even view Teletext from a chat.
The bot support also makes Telegram a powerful app for companies, for example. For example, developers can use GitHubBot to keep track of their development project, which causes important updates to appear in the chat. This allows you to automatically send relevant updates in chats, without you having to do anything. Make your own bot? You can do that by – you guessed it – talking to another bot. For instructions, just send a message to BotFather.
#6 Send any type of file, even large files
With Telegram you can send any type of file. WhatApp limits this to video, images and certain documents (namely csv, doc, docx, pdf, ppt, pptx, rtf, txt, xls and xlsx). This is sufficient for most people, but it can also happen that the sending fails. The files must be less than 100 MB, while Telegram allows files up to 1.5 GB.
#7 Channels in Telegram
A channel is similar to a group, but can have an unlimited number of members. The person who creates the channel decides who can post messages and other members can see these messages.
#8 Faster development process
It is already clear from the points mentioned above: the development of Telegram is a lot faster than that of WhatsApp. It often takes months for WhatsApp to add an important new feature, while Telegram often releases an update within a few weeks. The team behind Telegram has also opted for an assertive approach: the app regularly receives new, sometimes somewhat experimental functions. You never have the feeling that the app is behind.
But WhatsApp also has advantages
It’s not that WhatsApp is worse on all counts. The two main advantages:
- WhatsApp uses standard end-to-end encryption for all conversations. With Telegram you always have to enable this.
- There are many more users at WhatsApp. If you want to chat with someone, chances are they are already on WhatsApp. With Telegram you have less chance.
How do you switch to Telegram?
Are you convinced? Fortunately, it is then quite simple to switch to Telegram. You just need to install the app and then follow the steps on the screen to find all your friends through your address book. You will immediately see everyone who is currently using Telegram. If friends later install Telegram, a new chat will automatically open to point this out to you.
Tip: convince groups to switch
Of course there is one more dilemma: not all your friends are on Telegram. The vast majority of the Netherlands is currently still using WhatsApp, so you have to keep switching between the two apps. You can forward friends to this article one by one so they know why Telegram is worth it, but that takes a lot of time.
Our advice: initially focus only on chat groups. In a group with relatives, colleagues or football friends, explain why Telegram is worth it, and recreate that same group in Telegram. Then you have a large group of people in one go.
Check out our overview of highly secured chat apps if you want to know more and also want to consider other options. As already indicated, in addition to Telegram, Signal is also worth considering.
