Telegram Desktop is an open source, multiplatform, modern and free graphical application that allows any Linux user to easily and quickly talk with friends, co-workers and family members who use the Telegram messenger, from the comfort of their GNU/Linux desktops.
Telegram is a revolutionary messaging system that can be easily described as fast, highly secure, cloud-based, distributed, free, open source, encrypted, powerful, and cross-platform, available on all the important mobile devices (Android, iOS (iPhone/iPad), Windows Phone) and operating systems (Linux, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows).
With Telegram you will be able to connect from remote locations, synchronize your conversations on all of your devices, create groups of up to 200 members, send documents of any type, send encrypted information that cannot be intercepted by government agencies, store media files in the cloud, as well as to choose to destruct certain messages.
Supports 64-bit and 32-bit Linux distributions
As its name suggests, the Telegram Desktop application has been tailored for desktop users, allowing them to log into their Telegram accounts, in addition to the mobile app, and chat with their buddies in a more comfortable matter.
For your convenience, the software is distributed as pre-built binaries that work on computers supporting either of the 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x86_64) hardware architectures. The source code of the app is available via GitHub.
Installing Telegram Desktop is out of the question, as after downloading the file that corresponds to your hardware platform, and unpack it, you will only have to double-click on the Telegram file to open the app.
Getting started with Telegram Desktop
Click the big blue ‘Start Messaging’ button to login. The application will ask for your telephone number, which if it is already registered, the application will open and you can start chatting. If the phone number is not registered with Telegram, you can register it from within the app in two simple steps.
From the settings screen, you will be able to add a photo of you, so your contacts can easily recognize you, as well as to choose a unique username, enable or disable desktop notifications, message previews, sounds, automatic updates, viewing of the sender’s name, and other chat options.
Unfortunately, there’s no system tray area integration, and we prefer to install the application system wide instead of running it from a folder. If these two issues will be implemented in upcoming versions, Telegram Desktop will become our favorite chat software and we will give it five stars.
