How to Transfer Chats from WhatsApp to Telegram, WhatsApp has received a backlash from users after it made it necessary to comply with the new privacy policy that permits data sharing with Facebook. If you have deleted your WhatsApp account, you might be on the lookout for new WhatsApp alternatives. Ideally, the top 2 alternatives for WhatsApp are Signal and Telegram. Today, we’ll be discussing the transition from WhatsApp to Telegram.
Should I Move from WhatsApp?
Let’s get this out of the way. WhatsApp’s revised privacy policy requires you to let the company share data with other Facebook companies such as Facebook Payments, Onavo, Facebook Technologies (Oculus), and CrowdTangle.
“As part of the Facebook Companies, WhatsApp receives information from, and shares information (see here) with, the other Facebook Companies. We may use the information we receive from them, and they may use the information we share with them, to help operate, provide, improve, understand, customize, support, and market our Services and their offerings, including the Facebook Company Products,” reads the privacy policy.
According to WhatsApp, the company shares the following details with Facebook and other Facebook-owned companies:
- phone number
- transaction data
- service-related information,
- information on how you interact with others when using Facebook services
- mobile device information
- your IP address
However, WhatsApp also adds that it “may include other information identified in the Privacy Policy section entitled Information We Collect”. This section includes even more details like your contacts in the address book, status information, payments data, to name a few. While WhatsApp can’t access your messages, thanks to end-to-end encryption, it collects a lot of data that isn’t really needed to operate the service.
Moreover, according to WhatsApp’s App Store listing, the company links the following data to your identity:
- Purchases
- Financial Info
- Location
- Contact Info
- Contacts
- User Content
- Identifiers
- Usage Data
- Diagnostics
Creating Account on Telegram
Telegram is available on all leading platforms including Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Linux, and web. You can sign up for a Telegram account after installing the app on the platform of your choice. Registering an account on Telegram requires an active phone number and you will have to verify your phone number during the account creation process. Once you verify the number, you can add your name and get started.
telegram webMoving Chats & Messages to Telegram
While it wasn’t possible to import WhatsApp chats to Telegram before, Telegram has recently introduced a chat import tool to help you seamlessly bring WhatsApp chats to Telegram.
The First, Second and Third Stages:
To use the tool, open a chat, tap on More -> Export chat. You can choose to move media too by tapping on ‘Include Media’. If you just want the messages without media files, you can press the ‘Without Media’ button.
The Fourth and Fifth Stages:
From the Share sheet that appears now, choose Telegram, and tap on the recipient’s chat from the recent messages list or find it using the search box. After you find the right contact, tap ‘Import’.
Supported Formats and Limits
With Telegram, you can send messages, emojis, GIFs, stickers, animated stickers, and files. Unlike WhatsApp that limits videos to 16 MB and documents to 100 MB, you can send files of size up to 2 GB on Telegram. If you’re using Telegram for the first time, this will make a tangible difference in the way you share files with your friends. It is also worth mentioning that you can create your own sticker pack for creating goofy sticker packs. Oh, and did I tell you that you can set animated videos as your profile avatar?
Encryption
One aspect you should keep in mind while using Telegram is that the app doesn’t have end-to-end encryption by default, unlike WhatsApp. Don’t get me wrong, the chats are still encrypted using Telegram’s server-client MTProto encryption protocol. You can read more about how Telegram approaches encryption on the company’s explainer here. If you want that added layer of security, you should be looking at Telegram’s secret chats that offer end-to-end encryption.
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