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9

I want to work on a small app that will use Telegram from within Ubuntu but wanted to first know if there was already a work in progress for this since I noticed that, for example, pidgin has support for WhatsApp. With this in mind, is there a messenger app that has support (even basic support) for Telegram from within Ubuntu.

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There already seems to be two things - Telegram CLI, and Webogram - found those here... – Wilf Feb 24 '14 at 21:14
1  
After testing, your comment should be put as an answer. They give me several options to work in ubuntu. – Luis Alvarado♦ Feb 28 '14 at 4:09
    
I found there is a complete guide of how to use telegram on ubuntu: uthweb.com/how-to/… – user3279640 May 8 '14 at 18:55
    
I would advise to use sigram! I think it's the best solution for Ubuntu. With it you can enjoy unity's notifications, and small telegram logo on your system tray. – Oromay Aug 3 '14 at 12:59
    
I would not recommend sigram just yet. I have been testing it from a end user's point of view. It still has some issues like bad package quality, and some theme issues. It has all you have mentioned but if it shows any problems it will only create chaos on the users. When it feels like it is easy to install and the overall look/feel then I will post it in the answer as a recommended one. – Luis Alvarado♦ Aug 4 '14 at 16:51
up vote 50 down vote accepted

You have several GUI options:

Telegram Software Center

If you are using Ubuntu 16.04 and up, you can go to Software Center and search for telegram. You should find the following:

enter image description here

Now click on the telegram-sergiusens package to install it.

You can also go to the terminal and type:

sudo snap install telegram-sergiusens

Telegram Desktop

Which you can do it 2 ways, either using the PPA way, which you would simply run the following lines:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:atareao/telegram
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install telegram

or you would go to the official site and download the tar package from there and untar/uncompress the file either on your HOME folder or in the /opt folder (Whichever you want). Doing it this way you would then need to execute Telegram at least once from within the uncompressed folder.

Telegram SNAP Package

To install Telegram via snap, you can simply do the following:

sudo snap install telegram-latest

or

sudo snap install telegram-sergiusens

(telegram-sergiusens looks like it is actually offering the latest as of this writing).

To run, simply open Dash and type Telegram. You will see an option called "Telegram Desktop". If you encounter any issue like Telegram not opening the Desktop version, but instead the Web version, run the following:

/opt/telegram/Telegram

This should make the Telegram Desktop version appear on the Ubuntu Dash.

Telegram Desktop 0.9.18 on Ubuntu 15.10

enter image description here

It works perfectly and integrates well with Ubuntu (Including Unity Launcher and Panel). You can Drag/Drop images, files, videos and more. You can copy/paste text and do everything easily. This PPA is based on the Official Telegram Desktop in https://desktop.telegram.org/

Telegram WebApps (Via PPA)

There is a PPA that can be used to work on Telegram and is based on the Webogram:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:costales/unity-webapps-telegram
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install unity-webapps-telegram

Here it what it looks running on 15.10:

enter image description here

Telegram (Chrome Store)

Another way of using Telegram on your Ubuntu PC is through the Chrome Store and search for Telegram, or click on the Google Store Telegram Link. the app should appear on the App list in the Google chrome as Webogram like such:

enter image description here

enter image description here

In both cases you will only get asked once for your telephone number and a message carrying a 5 digit code will arrive on your phone. You type this code to the Ubuntu app or Chrome app and you are done.

TELEGRAM VERSION DIFFERENCES

                                WebApps | Desktop PPA | Chrome PPA | Official
Unity Integration                     Yes         Yes          Yes        Yes
Auto Updated                          Yes         Yes          Yes        Yes   
Can use Telegram Update Feature       No          Yes          No         Yes   
Updated Frequently / Faster           No          Yes          No         Yes     
Time between Updates                  Weeks       Days        Days     Minutes
Uses Notification System              Yes         Yes          Yes        Yes
Notifies user in Tray Icon            No          Yes          No         Yes
Depends on a Browser                  Yes         No           Yes        No
Easily execute from Launcher/Dash     Yes         Yes          Yes        Yes
Support Drag/Drop                     Yes         Yes          Yes        Yes
Support Video/Img                     Yes         Yes          Yes        Yes
Support URL Links / Opening Browser   Yes         Yes          Yes        Yes
Resource Usage                        Mid         Low          High       Low
Support Download/Upload Files         Yes         Yes          Yes        Yes
Send Audio Recordings on the fly      Yes         Yes          No         Yes
Copy/Paste To/From Clipboard          Yes         Yes          Yes        Yes
Compatible with Latest Ubuntu         No          Yes          Yes        Yes

WebApps PPA -Telegram version using the ppa:costales/unity-webapps-telegram PPA which uses the Unity WebApp Browser (Webogram). Currently works perfectly and integrates with Unity.

Desktop PPA - This is the PPA created by ppa:atareao/telegram. It works perfectly with Ubuntu and even updates itself rather quickly with the latest version. It offers Top Panel tray icon support and notification.

Chrome PPA - It depends on the Chrome Browser since it is used as an Chrome App. It also integrates with Unity but you need to have Chrome opened in order to make it work.

Desktop Official - This is the terminal version which you download and decompress. Simply execute from terminal and you will have it working in no time. It offers a manual update system.

Other Versions

  • Telegram Web - https://web.telegram.org/

    The user only needs to provide their phone number, receive the Telegram 5 digit code on their phone and type it in the website.

  • Telegram Desktop - https://desktop.telegram.org/

    The user needs to download and decompress the file, then run it from the terminal.

How to upgrade Telegram via the Telegram Update option

In order for this to work, you can download the Official Desktop version which includes to files, the Telegram binary and the Updater. Run the updater to get the latest version or click on the Update option inside the Telegram app when an update is available.

Another way that helps affects the Telegram Desktop PPA and it works by executing the Updater binary mentioned above from the Official Desktop version while having the Telegram Desktop PPA installed already. After running the Updater once, any new versions that come out will also affect the Telegram Desktop PPA and you can keep on updating Telegram via the Update option.

How to use, get & contribute to Telegram

Telegram offers several ways to use and contribute to them:

In all cases, you can participate, contribute, file bug reports and ideas. Additional here is what Telegram looks on Lubuntu:

enter image description here

enter image description here

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I used Telegram Desktop method in Lubuntu 15.10, but the problem is that notification icon is missing. Do you have any idea how to fix it? – Woeitg Feb 21 '16 at 14:12
    
Hi @Woeistg I just finished installing Lubuntu 15.10 64-bit and installed Telegram. It is working correctly from my end. My only 2 suggestions are to either run the /opt/telegram/telegram to refresh or to file a bug report on the github source code for it (links at the bottom of the answer). – Luis Alvarado♦ Feb 21 '16 at 14:43
    
there were no telegram in /opt/telegram/telegram so I run telegarm and system answers The program 'telegram' is currently not installed. You can install it by typing: sudo apt-get install orville-write. So I run sudo apt-get install orville-write and now when I run /opt/telegram/telegram system asnwers telegram: Panic - Unable to find your tty (pts/0) in /var/run/utmp. I guess I did something wrong! – Woeitg Feb 21 '16 at 15:17
    
I already asked this question here – Woeitg Feb 21 '16 at 15:20
    
Hi @Woeistg sorry I did not type it correctly it is Telegram with a capital T like /opt/telegram/Telegram The other orville-write you need to remove it. Also this would be a bug report for telegram, not ubuntu. Which you need to file in github.com/telegramdesktop/tdesktop – Luis Alvarado♦ Feb 21 '16 at 16:09
up vote 6 down vote

There already seems to be two things available - Telegram CLI, and Webogram - found those here...

The first had to be compiled, based on these instructions:

First, install the dependencies:

sudo apt-get install libreadline-dev libconfig-dev libssl-dev lua5.2 liblua5.2-dev

Then:

wget https://github.com/vysheng/tg/archive/master.zip -O tg-master.zip
unzip tg-master.zip
cd tg-master
./configure
make

Then to run it:

./telegram

The second seems to be a web client. I have not tried either of these yet, as I don't use telegram.

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up vote 4 down vote

Another client exists: Telegram Desktop.

Installation:

  1. Download the archive by clicking on the big button.
  2. Open the archive in File Roller.
  3. Extract the archive.
  4. Start the application by double-clicking on 'Telegram' in the 'Telegram' directory.

If you know how to use the terminal, you might prefer it this way:

  1. wget https://tdesktop.com/linux32 on a 32-bit system
  2. wget https://tdesktop.com/linux on a 64-bit system
  3. tar xvf linux*
  4. ./Telegram/Telegram

For quick access, pin the application in the Ubuntu Launcher by right-clicking on its icon.

Blurred screenshot

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By pinning it on my launcher, it loses its icon, unless I keep the Telegram folder on my desktop (and not anywhere else). That's a pain to me, as I like to keep my desktop clean :-( – streppel Dec 13 '14 at 19:40
1  
Some solutions: 1) Hide the Telegram directory by renaming it to .Telegram. Restart the app, and re-pin to launcher. 2) Move the Telegram directory to a different directory (e.g. ~/Downloads). Restart and repin. 3) A combination of both. – Exeleration-G Dec 13 '14 at 20:02
up vote 3 down vote

I've just found this on launchpad https://launchpad.net/ubuntu-telegram-app

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1  
That's for Ubuntu Touch though - good find anyway :D – Wilf Feb 24 '14 at 21:43
    
For future uses: This development also intends to be available in an ubuntu desktop os version – franzlorenzon Mar 2 '14 at 18:03
    
Hi. I'm the owner of that launchpad project. It is currently abandoned since derived in the current development i'm doing, along with other people, of Ubuntu Touch telegram native version. Don't consider that project much more than a proof of concept – Roberto Mier Nov 6 '14 at 10:05
up vote 3 down vote

What about this? 

 sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8
 sudo apt-get update
 sudo apt-get install telegram-purple

then, go to pidgin and add your telegram account using your phone number (+99999xxx) as username

more info: https://github.com/majn/telegram-purple

source: (in Spanish) http://hipertextual.com/2014/11/telegram-desde-pidgin

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telegram-purple is still pre-alpha as of 12/2014, expect crashes and buggy behavior. Probably not the best option right now. – r.bitter Dec 28 '14 at 14:43
    
Make sure to completly quit Pidgin otherwise it won't be in your list of Protocols. – CoalaWeb Aug 2 '16 at 18:57
    
It doesn't seem to be there any longer for whatever reason – v010dya Dec 21 '17 at 10:51
up vote 2 down vote

For Ubuntu 17.04 and above:

Telegram-desktop package is available in Official Ubuntu Repositories.

So you can install this package with this command easily (without any need to PPA or any other ways):

sudo apt install telegram-desktop

Additional information :

As this package is available in universe repositories of Ubuntu, so this repositories should be active on your machine (That's active by default) :

sudo add-apt-repository universe
sudo apt update
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Thank you Ali, one quick question, will it receive weekly / monthly updates by the Telegram team? For example similar to how the desktop.telegram.org works – Luis Alvarado♦ Aug 19 '17 at 2:09
1  
@LuisAlvarado Thanks for your reply ; Yes it receives updates well. For example telegram-desktop package's version in zesty is 1.0.29 and its version in artful is 1.1.19. – ali76 Aug 19 '17 at 8:14
up vote 1 down vote

There is a new native client called Sigram: http://labs.sialan.org/projects/sigram

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Yes but the Ubuntu version is not working correctly for many users. The user needs to download the Linux version and run it from the terminal. It is missing many needed features and it has problems on Ubuntu as mentioned in github.com/sialan-labs/sigram/issues/33 This was actually one that I wanted to add to the list but with so many problems for end user I would end up scaring them. In any case +1 because of mentioning it – Luis Alvarado♦ Jun 24 '14 at 16:43
up vote 1 down vote

There is also a young project which makes it possible to use telegram in pidgin (and other libpurple based messangers): https://github.com/majn/telegram-purple

Still a devel version but as far I can tell the basic features are working well.

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up vote 0 down vote

To install telegram on DEB based systems, run the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:atareao/telegram
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install telegram

Source: How to install Telegram Messenger on Linux via PPA

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