Just About Telegram: only official news from Telegram, Telegram Web and MacApp Team

1️⃣2️⃣ 🔠🔠🔠🔠🔠🔠🔠

More than 12 million users are now subscribed to Telegram Premium.

We thank all of our Premium subscribers for their continued support — which allows Telegram to continue creating powerful features that change how nearly one billion people communicate.

Tap below to get your own subscription or send a gift to family and friends.

⭐️ SUBSCRIBE or 🎁 GIFT PREMIUM

RT @durov: Telegram is now profitable 🏆

📈 This year, the number of Telegram Premium subscribers tripled, exceeding 12 million. Our ad revenue also increased a few times. Telegram's total revenue in 2024 surpassed $1 billion, and we are closing the year with more than $500 million in cash reserves, not including crypto assets 🪙

🏦 Over the past four years, Telegram has issued about $2 billion in debt. We repaid a meaningful share of it this Fall, taking advantage of favorable prices for the Telegram bonds. But there’s a lot of work ahead 👨‍💻

🔬 Our innovations in monetization this year (⭐️Stars, 🎁 Gifts, 🪙Giveaways, 🖥 Mini Apps, 🤝the Affiliate Platform, 💼Telegram Business, and 📥Telegram Gateway) demonstrate that social media platforms can achieve financial sustainability while staying independent and respecting users' rights 💪

Just about Telegram by @JustAboutTelegram
A @grttme project - Other backups: @Hallotme

🔮 As I predicted, 2024 turned out to be a very good year for Telegram. For the first time in its 3-year history of monetization, Telegram became profitable 🏆

📈 This year, the number of Telegram Premium subscribers tripled, exceeding 12 million. Our ad revenue also increased a few times. As a result, Telegram's total revenue in 2024 surpassed $1 billion, and we are closing the year with more than $500 million in cash reserves, not including crypto assets 🪙

🏦 Over the past four years, Telegram has issued about $2 billion in debt. We repaid a meaningful share of it this Fall, taking advantage of favorable prices for the Telegram bonds. But there’s a lot of work ahead 👨‍💻

↗️ Our innovations in monetization this year (⭐️ Stars, 🎁 Gifts, 🪙 Giveaways, 🖥 Mini Apps, 🤝 the Affiliate Platform, 💼 Telegram Business, and 📥 Telegram Gateway…) demonstrate that social media platforms can achieve financial sustainability while staying independent and respecting users' rights.

🎯 The purpose of monetization is to ensure that you, our users, will always remain our #️⃣1️⃣ priority 🫂

ContestBot will begin accepting submissions for the Android Contest 2024, Round 2 later today.

New deadline: 23:59 on December 22nd (Dubai time)

We are extending the deadline to ensure all contestants have enough time to properly adjust both package id and api_id for their apps.

If you are a first-time participant, set aside at least 2-3 hours for this stage and ensure your app can be installed alongside official apps and does not break basic functions like login.

Start the bot later today, choose “Android Contest 2024 R2”, answer the bot’s questions, then send:

- An .apk file (release build). Make sure your code is using your own package id.
- A link to the commit on a public GitHub repository, forked from the Telegram-Android repository.

Note: Your repository may stay private until the deadline. Entries that are not using their own package id will be penalized.

🔍 Earlier this month, we launched AI-powered sticker search. We added search tags to all 40,000+ stickers created by Telegram artists over the past 10 years. As a result, the new search supports multiple keywords in 34 languages, helping you find the perfect sticker — or emoji, if you’re a Premium user ⭐️

😏 But this is just the beginning. Next month, the sticker tab will also let you search through millions of popular custom stickers uploaded by our users 😏

💡 Stickers have been one of the many innovations that define Telegram. AI-powered search will make discovering them easier than ever 🔭

The story interface lets you create collages of up to 6 photos and videos in customizable layouts.

You can add media to collages from your gallery or with the in-app camera and adjust videos and music on a timeline. #TelegramTips

Just about Telegram by @JustAboutTelegram
A @grttme project - Other backups: @Hallotme

The sticker panel uses a custom AI model to support complex searches with multiple keywords like cat drinking coffee – in dozens of languages.

This is also available for Premium users in the emoji panel – instantly returning results from thousands of emoji. #TelegramTips

Just about Telegram by @JustAboutTelegram
A @grttme project - Other backups: @Hallotme

Bots and mini apps can host affiliate programs – a transparent way to quickly scale with organic growth from user referrals.

To start an affiliate program, open the profile page of your mini app, then tap Edit > Affiliate Program. #TelegramTips

Just about Telegram by @JustAboutTelegram
A @grttme project - Other backups: @Hallotme

🤝 The Affiliate Platform we launched this month is an instant hit. Its goal is to let users and channels earn Stars by inviting people to mini apps. In just 12 days, 15,000 affiliate programs were created, and 4 million users got referred to mini apps 📈

😇 The Affiliate Platform gives channels and mini apps what they need most: channel owners earn revenue, while mini app developers gain new users. Unlike similar systems, Telegram's Affiliate Platform is transparent and guarantees instant commissions each time a referred user makes a transaction in a mini app🪙

😺 Above all, it’s simple. Anyone can start or join an affiliate program on Telegram. You can view existing affiliate programs in “My Stars” in Settings (choose “Earn Stars”). Or just check out what it looks like in the video below 🍿

Anyone can earn Stars by joining affiliate programs launched by developers.

Browse programs in Settings > My Stars and join one to create your referral link. Share your link with your friends and community – and receive a percentage of Stars from their purchases. #TelegramTips

Just about Telegram by @JustAboutTelegram
A @grttme project - Other backups: @Hallotme

Collages In Stories. The story interface lets you combine up to 6 photos and videos in customizable layouts.

You can add media to collages from your gallery or with the in-app camera. To rearrange tiles, hold and drag them into place. To remove a tile or retake a photo or video, simply tap.

After adding your media, you can adjust your videos and music on a timeline to change their length or volume.

AI-Powered Sticker Search. The sticker panel supports complex searches with multiple keywords like cat drinking coffee – in dozens of languages.

This is available for Telegram Premium users in the emoji panel as well – instantly returning results from thousands of official emoji.

You can also quickly get sticker suggestions right from the message bar and use shortcuts to quickly input emoji.

🧑‍💻 Over the past few years, our moderation team has been working tirelessly to keep Telegram safe. Each month they removed about 1 million channels and groups, along with over 10 million users who violated our rules. These impressive results were made possible thanks to your reports, as well as our automated detection systems and AI-powered tools 😵

🤫 However, much of this work remained behind the scenes. The public wasn’t fully aware of the extent of our moderation efforts, and media outlets often relied on outdated information from parts of our website that hadn’t been updated in a decade 🕷

🖥 To address this, we’ve launched a new section on our website: telegram.org/moderation. This page highlights the incredible work our moderators have done over the years and offers a transparent overview of our ongoing commitment to keeping Telegram safe 🧹

Creating Affiliate Programs. Bots and mini apps can host affiliate programs – a transparent way to quickly scale with organic growth from user referrals.

Developers set a custom commission rate and duration for their affiliate program – dictating what percentage affiliates will receive from qualifying purchases, and for how long.

To start an affiliate program, open the profile page of your mini app, then tap Edit > Affiliate Program.

For more information on creating and managing affiliate programs, see our detailed guide.

Media and files can be shared directly from mini apps – sending referral codes, custom memes and more to any chat. #TelegramTips

Just about Telegram by @JustAboutTelegram
A @grttme project - Other backups: @Hallotme

Affiliate Programs. Any Telegram user can earn Stars by joining affiliate programs launched by developers.

In Settings > My Stars you can explore the list of available programs and sort them by their start date, total revenue or potential profit.

Tap a program to join it and generate your unique referral link to share with other users. Each time someone you referred makes a purchase in the mini app, you will receive a percentage of the Stars used.

More details on affiliate programs can be found in this guide.

Mini apps are able to generate files and media that you can save to your device or share to other chats. #TelegramTips

Just about Telegram by @JustAboutTelegram
A @grttme project - Other backups: @Hallotme

Premium users can set an emoji status inside mini apps – or give apps permission to automatically change it.

Apps can integrate APIs from other services – to update your status when you're in a game 🎮 or watching a movie 🍿. #TelegramTips

Just about Telegram by @JustAboutTelegram
A @grttme project - Other backups: @Hallotme

For the full details on affiliate programs and more – like AI-powered searches for emoji and a new way to rearrange captions, check out the full blog:
https://telegram.org/blog/affiliate-programs-ai-sticker-search

December Update
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Collages In Stories. The story interface now lets you combine up to 6 photos and videos in customizable layouts.

December Update
1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • More