Telegram

The paper plane is just the Chinese nickname for Telegram (its icon is a paper plane), so it refers to Telegram itself. Be aware that there are some third-party paper-plane fork clients (unofficial apps). Since February 18, 2023 these unofficial clients can only receive login codes through Telegram and can no longer request SMS login, so their experience and security fall short of the official app. Download the official Telegram instead: search Telegram on the App Store for iPhone or Google Play for Android, or download the desktop version from this site telegrammessage.com. Do not install paper-plane installers or localized packages of unknown origin, and watch out for counterfeit trojans.

The app can be installed, but using it is essentially impossible without a VPN. Mainland app stores usually do not list it, so you can download the official installer (Android APK or desktop) from this site telegrammessage.com, while iPhone may need a non-mainland Apple ID. The key issue is that mainland carriers block Telegram at the network layer, so a direct connection usually fails, and after downloading you will almost always need a VPN to register, log in and message. Mainland +86 numbers also often fail to receive international verification SMS, so registration usually needs an overseas number. After installing, update the app to the latest version and choose Simplified Chinese under Settings > Language.

Completely free. The Telegram app itself is free to download and use from the App Store, Google Play and this site telegrammessage.com, you will not be charged after downloading, and downloading, registering and messaging are all free. Telegram is also open-source with reproducible builds, so installers from official channels can be verified against the GitHub source. Be wary of any download site that asks you to pay first or install an extra plugin before downloading; that is almost certainly a counterfeit phishing site, so ignore it and stick to the three official entry points above.

Sorry, the available reliable sources do not specifically cover installation on HarmonyOS, so this part needs to be verified in practice. General approach: if your HarmonyOS phone has Google services or a usable store, you can install via Google Play the same way as on Android; otherwise download the official APK from this site telegrammessage.com and install it after enabling the Install unknown apps permission (whether pure HarmonyOS NEXT is compatible with Android APKs needs to be verified in practice). Be sure to use only this site and never download APKs from copycat sites, to avoid phishing trojans.

Telegram has an official web version, reachable from the per-platform entry points on this site telegrammessage.com, where the listed platforms include Web; open it directly in your browser with no installation. On first use you still need to log in with a real phone number in international format (for example Taiwan +886, dropping the leading 0 so it starts with 9). Note that the web version only routes the connection for that one browser tab, so if your location needs a proxy to reach Telegram, make sure the browser itself is going through a proxy or VPN.

It is not end-to-end by default for everything. Every Telegram chat is encrypted, but in two ways: ordinary chats (groups, channels and the default one-on-one) use client-to-server cloud encryption, with content encrypted and stored on Telegram servers for multi-device sync; only Secret Chats that you turn on manually are truly end-to-end encrypted, with content stored only on the two devices involved and never on the server. So for end-to-end you must start a Secret Chat separately from the other person profile page, and Secret Chats cannot sync across devices. Verify in practice.

Go to Settings > Privacy and Security > Two-Step Verification, follow the prompts to set a password only you know, and be sure to add a recovery email. Once enabled, logging in on a new device requires both the SMS login code and this password, so someone with only the SMS code cannot get in. We strongly recommend adding an email: if you forget the password, tap Forgot password and reset it instantly via email; without an email you must file an appeal and wait about 7 days to reset (a community estimate), during which you cannot log in.

On the other person chat profile page, choose Start Secret Chat. It is mainly started from mobile and exists only on the device where you start it. Secret Chats are end-to-end encrypted, not stored in the cloud, cannot be forwarded, support self-destruct timers, and even Telegram servers cannot read the content, so security is very high. But no one can see it has a condition: if the other device is physically accessed, screenshotted, or has monitoring software installed, the content can still leak. Encryption protects transmission and storage, not human leaks on the other end.

Telegram is unusual here: when you delete a chat you can check Delete for everyone, which removes the messages from both your side and the other person side with no time limit, which is more thorough than many apps. If you choose Delete for me only, the other side still keeps it. Note that before the other person actually deletes it, anything they have already screenshotted, forwarded or backed up is beyond your control. To be thorough, use Delete for everyone and act before the other person takes a screenshot.

Not necessarily; it depends on your region. Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Cambodia and most regions allow a direct connection, and failures are often just local network issues (try switching WiFi/4G or toggling airplane mode), so a VPN is not always required. But in regions that block Telegram at the network layer, such as mainland China (carrier block) and Vietnam (where authorities ordered telecom operators to block it in May 2025), you usually do need a VPN, or a SOCKS5 or official MTProto proxy under Telegram built-in Use Proxy. Judge by region first: if a direct connection works, skip the VPN; if it fails, add a proxy or turn on a VPN, based on local testing.

Telegram has no built-in acceleration to bypass blocks, but it does have an official Use Proxy feature supporting two protocols, SOCKS5 and official MTProto. This is not an accelerator; it routes Telegram own traffic through a proxy to get past blocks (it only routes Telegram, not other apps). Whether you need it: Hong Kong, Taiwan and most of Southeast Asia can connect directly with neither a VPN nor a proxy; blocked regions like mainland China and Vietnam need a VPN, or a SOCKS5 or MTProto node under built-in Use Proxy. Note the official app does not provide specific proxy nodes, so node sourcing and safety are on you. Connect directly if you can; add a proxy only if it fails.

Both are officially supported by Telegram built-in proxy, and which to pick depends on what you have. MTProto is a proxy protocol Telegram built specifically to fight blocking (launched in 2018 to counter the Russia and Iran blocks); it is usually shared via one-tap t.me/proxy links, and a secret starting with dd means fake-TLS is on, disguising traffic as ordinary HTTPS to resist detection, which suits the case of having no VPN of your own and wanting to just tap a link and connect. SOCKS5 suits you if you already run Clash or v2rayN locally: just fill in 127.0.0.1 plus the local port, flexible but you must match the port yourself. In short: use someone MTProto link if you have a ready-made node, and SOCKS5 if you have a local client.

Just tap the link inside Telegram to one-tap import and enable it. Common formats are tg://proxy?server=...&port=...&secret=... or https://t.me/proxy?server=...&port=...&secret=...; after you tap it, Telegram pops up a dialog asking you to confirm Use this proxy, and once the status shows Connected it has succeeded. A secret starting with dd means fake-TLS is on, disguising traffic as ordinary HTTPS to resist detection. Note that such nodes are distributed by third parties and not endorsed by the official app, so stability and safety are on you.

The paper plane is Telegram. With a group link (like t.me/xxx) the easiest way is to tap the link inside Telegram or in your phone browser; it jumps into Telegram and opens that group page, a Join Group / JOIN button appears at the bottom, and one tap gets you in. For a public group in @username form, you can also type @name in the search box to find and join it. If tapping the link does nothing, confirm you have Telegram installed and the link has not expired, and in a blocked region set up a proxy first. Verify in practice.

A Telegram group is a multi-person two-way chat where everyone can post and interact, which suits discussion; a channel is one-way broadcast where only admins post, and subscribers can only read and (if enabled) comment, which suits following information, announcements and resource updates. Join a group if you want to take part in discussion and meet people; subscribe to a channel if you just want to receive information on a topic. Many topics have both, so you can follow the channel for updates and chat in the group. Either way, first check the member or subscriber count and activity level, and do not trust unknown links or payment messages inside the group.

Once you find a Telegram bot (search its username or open its link), a START button appears at the bottom of the chat or you can type /start; one tap starts it, and the bot usually replies with instructions and available commands (commands start with /) or a menu of buttons. After that, just follow its commands or buttons, for example sending a keyword or choosing an option. If it asks you to authorize, link an account or pay, be careful and verify its identity. Tip: first make sure the bot comes from a trusted source, and never give it your verification code, two-step verification password or other sensitive information.

Hong Kong can currently use Telegram normally, usually with a direct connection and no VPN needed. When downloading, stick to official channels: this site telegrammessage.com, the App Store or Google Play. Register with a real phone number, choosing the Hong Kong international format +852. Since April 2026 the official app has built-in Traditional Chinese, so after updating to the latest version, choose Traditional Chinese under Settings > Language. If images or videos occasionally load slowly, it is usually a media download issue, so turn off automatic download, clear the cache, and switch to a more stable network; it does not mean a block. Overall the Hong Kong and Taiwan experience matches a direct connection.

Based on available sources, Chinese encyclopedias do not record any nationwide Telegram block in Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia or the Philippines, so these places can usually connect directly without a VPN; Hong Kong and Taiwan generally allow direct connections too. But Vietnam was ordered to block it in May 2025, and Thailand temporarily blocked it during the October 2020 protests, so these two often need a proxy. The most reliable way to judge is to simply try connecting: if it works you need no VPN, and if it fails, set up a SOCKS5 or MTProto proxy inside Telegram. (Each area depends on local carrier testing.)

Telegram disappearing messages let messages auto-delete in two ways: one is to start a Secret Chat and set a self-destruct timer in the chat, so messages auto-destroy after the other person reads them based on the set time; the other is Auto-Delete in ordinary chats, where you open a conversation, tap the other person name, and turn on Auto-Delete, choosing after 1 day, 1 week or 1 month (deleted for both sides). The former is more private and per-message; the latter is timed cleanup of the whole conversation. Note that Auto-Delete in an ordinary group applies to everyone. The exact entry varies slightly by version, so look for the Auto-Delete wording in the interface.

To send a file: in the chat box tap the paperclip/attachment icon, choose File, and pick the document, archive, video and so on. Telegram supports almost any format and does not compress files. As for size, Telegram per-file limit is quite high (regular users can already send very large single files, and Premium raises it further), which is plenty for everyday documents, videos and installers. Note: if a file you sent keeps spinning while the other person downloads it, that is usually a download or network issue rather than a send failure, so have them switch to a more stable network and clear the cache before retrying. Exact limits change with official policy, so go by the actual prompt in your app.