this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2024
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Privacy

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So, Telegram has launched horrible ads that look a lot like spam to me. At least in my channels it's typically some crypto bullshit. So, I wonder if people know about alternatives to the subscription service for blocking them? Sadly, Forkgram won't offer that option and it doesn't seem to be allowed. However, I wonder if there are still forks out there which block the ads? Or do people know of alternative options?

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Do know why you use Telegram but you shouldn't use it...

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

Because not everyone can cut off every bad platform. People have family and work on it and Whatsapp. Be more understanding about people's situations.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (2 children)

i kinda wanna quit nowadays but android customization channels (custom roms, gcam etc) are moving there from xda nowadays so no choice :(

wish there was some read only tg scraper.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago (2 children)

I would also like the link to custom roms channels. I never used Telegram but may check it out since its something I am interested in.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

they are usually about a specific device. These are the few I'm in.

t.me/eureka_roms (Exynos 7884/5 Galaxy phones)

t.me/eliteroms_sexynos (Exynos 5443, 8890, 8895, 9810)

t.me/exynos9820oss (Exynos 9820)

t.me/LGG7V40Customs (LG's SDM845 devices)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

usually when you look at a rom threads' first post you can find a telegram link

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago

Where can I find links to join these? Been wondering why everything is dried up.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

AyuGram is ad-free and also has a little more TOS-breaking features. Use at your own risk!

Mobile: https://github.com/AyuGram/AyuGram4A
Desktop: https://github.com/AyuGram/AyuGramDesktop

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I'll give it a try, thanks! Sadly it doesn't seem to be well maintained though :/

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Nekogram and Mercurygram (both from F-Droid) may be the option? Using them both now and so far I dont see any ads popping up.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I tried Nekogram but it is also showing ads. It only shows adds on public channels, though.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (3 children)

I was under the imoression that Telegram was a better alternative to WhatsApp but even WhatsApp doesn't have ads. What should I be using, then?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago

Telegram was never a better alternative. It's not even encrypted. All your chats go straight to Abu Dhabi where everyone can freely access them.

Signal is a viable alternative to Whatsapp. Threema is too, but less popular.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 months ago

WhatsApp kind of has ads, in the form of advertised channels and still sucks up your data. For simplicity use Signal, for decentralized and number less registration use Simplex, and if you want the maximum privacy use Briar (Briar has huge trade offs for more privacy, so unless you gotta leak some documents or something I wouldn’t use it)

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Why were you under that impression? No default encryption, no group chat encryption. Data on the servers, meta data, company resides in UAE and many more. Wenn don't know what's und er the hood of WhatsApp but what de know about Telegram is nauseatic

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

We know WhatsApp uses the Signal protocol for encryption, but it also collects a lot of metadata. Arguably still better than Telegram that collects everything. Its secret chats may be e2ee but nobody uses them even for discussing sensitive matters, and they don't work on the Desktop.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (2 children)

While I'm not using telegram (and you should neither, it sucks and it's bad for privacy), here are two options:

Change your DNS. If that's the way they're distributing their ads, they'll be gone

Maybe Telegram FLOSS (F-Droid-Store) can help?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

I already use an ad blocking DNS, but that's not how they distribute ads, sadly

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

Telegram FOSS doesn't remove ads anymore

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Huh, I clicked the link and it’s blocked by my DNS content blocker. Have you tried using an adblocker on your phone?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Which one? There's three in my post. And I do use an ad blocking DNS, but this can't block message-like ads from Telegram. Otherwise it would have to somehow read the encrypted message content...

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

The first one (ads). I’m not a heavy user, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen ads or sponsored messages even in unencrypted chats. I use Mullvad’s DNS blocker.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 4 months ago (1 children)

It's just a joke. I don't want you to actually feel bad.

But you should do some research on Telegram, and the fact that they rolled ads out on its own should be a giant Red Flag waving you down. They're not a good company, and their homespun encryption is dubious at best.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago (3 children)

I know! But I don't really have a choice currently; which app would you suggest for tickers / info channels? Mastodon would be an option, but it's not quite the same. Abd I'd first have to convince everyone to use it :/

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I just saw one in fdroid and I can't remember it now, lemme see if I can find it.

EDIT: it was zulip

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

I feel that. That's why I said it was a joke. If I could get all my people off Discord and on Matrix I would but oh well.

Matrix/Element would be my preferred as I could self-host, but I don't have better suggestions that are more like Telegram I am sorry to say.