In general, app feature creep is becoming increasingly tiresome. It’s sometimes ok for software to be “done”, with any further engineering instead going towards making the product ever-more rock solid. Nobody seems to realize this though.

It's because these smaller products don't make money and will eventually die unless they figure something out.

I don't buy anything from Telegram. I don't see any ads. Yet I use its API and chat for a price of $0. Something has to give.

WinZip is always the first thing I think of in this context.

+1. I like the anti-discoverability in Telegram, but I can see why they would need such a feature to grow their business.

Meh, like it or not (I can guess which), Telegram has the best API in the game and it's amazing for businesses and all sorts of use-cases beyond chatting 1:1 with your friends. For example, its API lets you create buttons and nested applications within the app which certainly aren't there for you to talk with Billy from work.

So it makes sense that they build out more features for those use-cases like those using it as a media platform. I really like what they're doing. This is how you build a platform.

I'd be surprised if HNers are even aware of how other people use Telegram beyond basic chat. We tend to dismiss and hold disdain for use-cases we don't care about rather than learn about them earnestly.

You haven't heard of xmpp

I certainly heard of death by extension, one XEP at a time.

I think Telegram has realised they've lost the 1 on 1 personal chat fight to Signal and they're pivoting to their emergent user base. Every time I hear about Telegram these days it's in a discussion about thousand-person broadcast chats and the like. If that is truly their main area of growth a feed to aggregate that kind of stuff does make sense.

Doesn't Telegram have like 10x the number of users that Signal has? Even if channels are popular I would imagine there's plenty of 1-1 and personal usage on Telegram. Data point of one: I use Telegram with about 20 contacts for personal messaging; I don't use Signal with anyone.

Signal had a ton of users but then they disabled the ability to use it as your primary SMS app citing user confusion about which chats were encrypted vs which were not, SMS support was the killer feature for a lot of people. Since they dropped true SMS support I don't know anyone who still uses it.

Maybe in some countries they have lost the fight. But in many other countries, including India, Signal isn't even a part of the fight.

I know fewer than 5 people who have heard of Signal but almost all of my acquaintances have at least heard of Telegram. But nobody uses anything except WhatsApp.

> I think Telegram has realised they've lost the 1 on 1 personal chat fight to Signal

LOL what?

This. Signal has its userbase, sure, on Firefox level. It _is_ there but barely noticeable.

They probably don't make enough money from being a reasonable platform. It will just end up a Twitter hell-scape if trolls can find a community to torment/destroy more easily.

FYI, Telegram is currently one of the main social media platforms in Russia, which is their "domestic" market (the company is not legally in Russia, as well as it's developers and founder, but all of them are originally from the country).

I completely get your fear as I also don't really want non-chat features from Telegram, but I can pretty confidently say I don't think any of the new features have at all changed how I use the app. my chats work exactly like I expect them to with my friends and that's perfect. I don't see any of the more social media stuff unless I want to.

I think it's a pretty good sign that all these social media features continue to be added and I still don't see any impact on how I use Telegram.

Spot on, recent updates are mostly about useless stories and other BS, instead of that, how about making an E2EE by default?!

It is the opposite for me. I use many decentralized E2EE messengers. Telegram is good for broadcasting certain topics such as war coverage, because it is not domiciled in a NATO country.