You no longer need a phone number to create a Telegram account after today. Telegram is also rolling out new security and privacy features.
Virtually every calling service requires a phone number to create an account. Telegram is putting an end to that this time, the organization writes in a blog post. Users can create such an account without a SIM card or phone number. Telegram does ask users to verify themselves via Fragment after entering their data.
Users can request a free anonymous phone number via Fragment. With this number you can then receive the verification code to complete your registration. This number remains linked to your account after verification for Telegram and is available to you to receive verification codes. According to the call service, there is no charge for using a Fragment number, which is based on the blockchain.
Aggressive spam filter in Telegram
On top of the arrival of SIM-free login, new security and privacy features also appear. For example, groups with more than 200 members can benefit from a more aggressive spam filter. This reduces the need for group moderators to rely on third-party apps to keep spam out of their group(s). The filter would be so aggressive that moderators have to deal with false positives. These messages can be reported by admins – after this they will still appear in the group.
Groups become a lot clearer with such a spam filter. For this, Telegram already introduced the so-called ‘Topics’ in its last update. The new update heralds the time of Topics 2.0, the company writes in its message. Topics are now also available for groups of 100 or more members. For convenience, topic groups are now opened in a two-column mode. This makes switching between different topics even easier and clearer.
Self-destruct timer
Finally, Telegram introduces a further development to its self-destruct timer. The timer was introduced in 2013 to automatically delete chats for you and the recipient. You had to set such a timer for each chat separately. From now on you can set such timers automatically for all chats. New chats you create after setting will be deleted after the set time has elapsed. Already existing chats will not be affected by the change.
Telegram rolled out the new features to all users on December 6. If you don’t see them, you may still need to download the update from the Play Store or App Store.
