[News updated at 19:52 on 04/17/2026]
Apple has begun flagging the alternative Telegram client, Telega, as malware. iPhone users are reporting that the previously installed application has stopped opening: iOS forcibly closes it and prompts them to delete it from their smartphone, citing a security threat. Telega already disappeared from the App Store on April 9.
The developers previously explained the removal of the application from the Apple store by a large influx of negative reviews due to the introduced waiting list. The company stated that they are working on returning to the App Store. At the same time, the client is still available without restrictions on Google Play and RuStore.
An anonymous publication from March 20 is being discussed online, which claims that Telega has hidden functionality to intercept data between the user and Telegram servers.
The developers of the alternative client emphasized that the client works through the official Telegram API using the MTProto protocol, and user data is protected by the messenger's standard encryption.
Updated. Telega representatives gave a comment to www1.ru:
This message is related to the misclassification of Telega. Independent checks by Cloudflare, Seclookup, SOCRadar, Gridinsoft, Criminal IP, Fortinet, Norton have already confirmed that Telega is not a malicious application. However, the check by Apple requires more time, so such a notification may appear on iOS devices for now
Earlier, www1.ru reported that Telega domains had lost their spyware status.
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