Telegram Messenger Beta is popular in South America, rolls out update to fix scaling issues

By Harish Jonnalagadda
last updated

The crew at Telegram Messenger Beta have noted a massive increase in popularity in South America, which is why they've rolled out an update that allows the service to scale in the region. The sudden increase in users has to do with a ban imposed on WhatsApp in Brazil on February 27 over violent images shared on the network.

A Brazilian judge called a ban on WhatsApp after it was revealed that the service failed to assist law enforcement officers in an ongoing investigation. The ban is yet to go into effect as it is currently being appealed by carriers in the country. The crux of the issue is that WhatsApp was unwilling to provide government officials with conversation transcripts. Even if it was legally ordered to do so, the service's end-to-end encryption means that only the intended recipients have access to conversations.

All of this has played into the hands of Telegram Messenger, with the service witnessing a massive influx of new users in Brazil:

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Version 1.5.0.0 isn't going to add a host of new features, with the focus on improving scaling issues for South American users. Here's what the changelog has to say about the update:

  • Performance update to help scaling due to the sudden and massive spike of popularity in South America.

The messaging service has picked up several updates over the course of the last 30 days that saw the introduction of notification muting, easier document management in chats and more.

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Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

Harish Jonnalagadda
Harish Jonnalagadda
Senior Editor - Asia

Harish Jonnalagadda is a Senior Editor overseeing Asia for Android Central, Windows Central's sister site. When not reviewing phones, he's testing PC hardware, including video cards, motherboards, gaming accessories, and keyboards.

77 Comments
  • Hike needs to get this and more.
  • I read on twitter few day ago that hike devs are also working on revamp version of app for WP8.1
  • Yes u r right.. But they should atleast bring world cup stickers.. I mean will world cup stickers come after world cup ends?
  • Yes! We went to hike headquarters and the revamped version will be all for 8.1. They still have their about 30% users on 8, so in order to be give service they update that too but 8.1 version will be out soon :) #hike #winphan
  • Makes no sense if that revamped version isn't an universal app.
  • Still Hike is the best messenger in WP! It have stickers, Natasha Chat Emojicons and more...!
  • Natasha babes is nice. I would say baby Cortana she is.
  • Lol #FOREVERALONE u seem!!!
  • Haha
    Not funny
  • But hike can't send mp3, pdf or or any files you know, just like telegram. I bet till now there's no messenger app on wp store which can match telegram capabilities.
  • Its the limitation of windows platform not hike..
  • No, they said, after release revamp version of hike they will provide mp3,pdf file sending feature
    Maybe in this revamp version they will change some old coding so after that they cab enables features like, 100mb file send, documents send, calling on hike etc......
  • If its a platform limitation, then how it works on Telegram? ;)
  • Can you send mp3 and pdf on telegram?
  • Sure! Telegram can send anything as a "file".
  • The app of telegram works just like an email.
    You may not be able to share mp3 or any other type of files on windows platform. But you can always send them as an email.
    Telegram uses the same technology, I guess, but an amplified and better version of it.
    Its like an email with google drive type of capabilities. ;)
  • Telegram does it. It's not wp's problem. At least not anymore
  • Hike have Chat encryption,Offline SMS, Status update etc...! I
  • @MSARUL , +hiding chat, turn on/off last seen for particular person.....
  • No Telegram is the best and does it all, everything that people are talking about on this comment.
  • Telegram is just copy of whatsapp!
  • yes
  • But telegram is much good
  • And much better support ..
  • Telegram updates much faster and better than WhatsApp's annual updates.
  • Correct. So they're not entirely the same :)
  • Hike updates faster that telegram!
  • But lacks TONS of features.
  • it is a bit stupid to compare the apps despite the fact they are both messengers, telegram has got way better functions and features
  • Common send is strong in this one....feel the intelligence....
    .
    No, I'm not making fun of you, I'm commending you.
  • And is that bad?
  • Planning to move my friends from WhatsApp to Hike and Telegram. Hope I succeed :)
  • I successfully moved my 70% contacts to hike from WhatsApp
  • Whatever it is. It is still in beta.
  • A good beta at that :)
  • I think we should applaud Whatsapp for protecting user privacy. I wonder what Telegram would do in such circumstances?
  • Agreed. However, I wonder what WhatsApp would do if the US government ordered them to hand out protocols... Is Telegram not encrypting end-to-end?
  • To be honest, does the US government need to even bother asking for such things? GCHQ and the CIA seem to have universal access to encryption keys...they can probably decipher Whatsapp messages in real time!
  • Yes. Hell, they did it in ww2 with enigma, GCHQ built first computer to do it...RIP Allen Touring...
  • Telegram does have end-end encryption
  • only in secret chat
  • That's what I got out of this article as well.
  • What about groupme guys ?
  • The state of their WP app compared to their iOS/Android versions is pathetic. Just take a look and see how buggy and ugly it is.
  • What about Skype? It's the worst
  • Was 4,5 millions of users that signed in 40h! And about to 700 millions of messages in that time. :)
  • The title is funny lol
  • I realized that now, lol. BTW you are a basketball fan?
  • Ye, but these days they don't call it basketball fan anymore, it is called retard or dickrider ..... :(
  • Hey. WhatsApp banning is not going to happen here they already suspended the judge decision. And Telegram is better than WhatsApp.
  • 100 signups per sec... Nice.:)
  • I like telegram and it's forever free for those with money problems in society
  • Hey guys I have installed Telegram on my Lumia but I don't have anyone to chat with >.< drop your ID and lets be friends ^▽^
  • Open WhatsApp on your phone and change status to this. "moved to telegram messenger"
  • Lol
  • Nice!
  • Not sure about Telegram, but I'll give a try something
  • Shit... They should ban WhatsApp here in India.. So that I can use hike n telegram with my friends..
  • For what? Whatsapp is still much better than hike/telegram
  • No its not. When did you get a feature update on Whatsapp? 2013?
  • Hike is way better than WhatsApp...
  • Agreed
  • Time to go Latina hunting!!
  • Does Telegram work the same way as Snapchat?
  • No. But it works the same way as WhatsApp. Infact, better. It supports document sharing.
  • But it can also auto-destruct messages like Snapchat, right? Isn't that the whole idea behind it? Sorry but I haven't really used Snapchat at all that's why I don't know what's so special about it.
  • Neither did I ;)
  • The app of telegram works just like an email.
    You may not be able to share mp3 or any other type of files on windows platform. But you can always send them as an email.
    Telegram uses the same technology, I guess, but an amplified and better version of it.
    Its like an email with google drive type of capabilities. ;) :)
  • Please give us Windows Phone emoticons back!!!!
  • They aren't going anywhere. You can use them
  • In the keyboard they do appear as Windows Phone emoticons.   But in the messages they appear as iOS styled emoticons.
  • It's annoying because the Windows emoticons look much better... Even more accurate
  • Wondering when they are going to update Messenger app after 3 months +
  • Telegram is better in all sense than whatsapp except can't preview pics before sending and does not support attaching multiple pics
  • can anyone tell me which weather app is that in the photo?
  • So, this service became popular in Brazil, I'm from south America and I didn't knew about what happened to whatapp there...
  • I read that the other day before updating and had no idea it was related to this. Interesting. Telegram is a great service.