One is named "Telegram" and one is "Telegram for Desktop" and they have exactly the same icon, but different sets of features.
edit: I was wrong, neither of the two is Electron, see below
Telegram is https://github.com/overtake/TelegramSwift (Swift, Core* libraries)
Both are native.
so... native. I'm glad everyone agrees then.
No. You're missing the bit where "native" means different things in different contexts; for code it means that the code ends up being compiled for the architecture it's running on, but for UI it means that you're using the platform APIs and following system conventions, which Telegram does not.
Lately, IIRC, they have made huge chunks of their core app available as a library to simplify the creation of more clients.
I disagree. It's no harder to grasp than email:
- You go to a website and create an account
- Your share your address with others and they can send mail to you
- Given someone's address, you can send mail to them
I have my (quite technologically challenged) wife using it on mobile and desktop quite happily.
Of course Signal's server implementation is still closed but something like Matrix/Riot is too much to ask from "normal people" (like my mother and father who I got onto Singal with ease...).