Despite the potential security issues, I still use Telegram.
Where possible, I prefer to type on my proper desktop keyboard, because I am a stubborn old man and you kids with your phones, and Telegram is just so nice in that context. It uses no resources, the UI largely gets out of the way, and message sync and delivery is 99.9% reliable in my experience. (Looking at you, Messages app.)
I do worry on some level that, by not paying, I am the product in some sense. And I wish they had a full security audit. But, I have so many other potentially insecure ways for people to get my info, and really I’m too boring to stalk anyways, so I just can’t make myself too bothered.
It's not your info that people can get, it's your chats, which makes "info" sound like the understatement of the year. Less so the past year that we've been in the same house at all times, but I generally chat with my SO all day long about everything on my messaging app. It's _not_ okay to have years of that history stored on a Russian app server based in Dubai. A security audit doesn't matter. I'll take for granted that the chats get to the server securely before being stored in plain text forever. Even if I could trust the current company to be 100% altruistic, I can't trust that data to be safe with them forever. Through state-sponsored attacks, company sales, new CEOs, new boards, etc.
Where possible, I prefer to type on my proper desktop keyboard, because I am a stubborn old man and you kids with your phones, and Telegram is just so nice in that context. It uses no resources, the UI largely gets out of the way, and message sync and delivery is 99.9% reliable in my experience. (Looking at you, Messages app.)
I do worry on some level that, by not paying, I am the product in some sense. And I wish they had a full security audit. But, I have so many other potentially insecure ways for people to get my info, and really I’m too boring to stalk anyways, so I just can’t make myself too bothered.