Telegram now lets you bring across chat history from WhatsApp

Telegram has launched a new feature to help people move their chat history from other apps including WhatsApp.

Telegram was one of the major beneficiaries of the public backlash against Facebook in January updating WhatsApp’s privacy policy, which would allow it to share more information with businesses. 

Telegram claimed to have gained 25 million new users after initial reports about the new policy, pushing its user numbers beyond 500 million. 

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Security experts generally recommend Signal as the most secure chat app, which also gained a lot of users who were fleeing from WhatsApp. Other secure chat app options include Threema and Wickr, which offer end-to-end encryption by default. The developers of these apps have also released source code for third-party audits, whereas Telegram has not.   

According to Telegram, it gained 100 million new users in January and it’s now developed a feature that lets users bring across their old WhatsApp messages to Telegram. The chat migration feature also works for chat histories in Line and KakaoTalk. The migration feature works for individual and group chats.

The feature takes advantage of WhatsApp’s already available export chat option.    

“To move a chat from WhatsApp on iOS, open the Contact Info or Group Info page in WhatsApp, tap Export Chat, then choose Telegram in the Share menu,” Telegram explained. 

WhatsApp on iOS also lets users export chats directly from the chat list by swiping left on a chat, then choosing Export Chat.

In addition, Telegram announced a new feature that lets users report fake channels and groups that pose as famous people and organizations. Telegram says its moderators will investigate reports when users open a suspect profile page and tap Report > Fake Account. 

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WhatsApp in mid-January decided to delay its privacy policy update due to confusion about what the update meant. It moved the deadline for accepting its new terms from February 8 to May 15. 

“We’re now moving back the date on which people will be asked to review and accept the terms. No one will have their account suspended or deleted on February 8,” WhatsApp said.  

“We’re also going to do a lot more to clear up the misinformation around how privacy and security works on WhatsApp. We’ll then go to people gradually to review the policy at their own pace before new business options are available on May 15.”

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