In this article
A one-to-one call on Telegram — voice or video — is encrypted end to end. The servers pass the traffic along and cannot listen to it, which is a stronger guarantee than an ordinary chat gets.
Four emoji appear on the call screen to let you prove that. Almost nobody uses them, and they are the only part of this that cannot be taken on trust.
What you will be able to do
- check_circle Start a video call and switch camera, mute, or drop to audio mid-call.
- check_circle Check the four emoji, and know what checking them actually proves.
- check_circle Keep the call visible while you do something else.
- check_circle Decide whether calls should connect directly or through Telegram's servers.
The four emoji are in the corner of the call screen from the moment it connects, on both sides.
lock Why the emoji are there
When a call is set up, the two devices agree a key between themselves. The servers help them find each other and then carry encrypted traffic they cannot read. Nothing about the call is stored.
The weak point in any such arrangement is the middle. If something were able to negotiate separately with each of you, it could relay the call while reading it, and both ends would see what looks like a normal connection.
The four emoji are a short summary of the key each side ended up with. If somebody were in the middle there would be two different keys, and therefore two different sets of pictures. Saying yours out loud and hearing the same four back is what rules that out — and it takes three seconds.
During the call
Four controls, one of which is a privacy setting most people have never opened.
videocam The obvious ones
picture_in_picture Leaving the call screen
public How the connection is made
warning When it is struggling
Two settings and one habit: direct connections for contacts only, camera off when the line is poor, and read the emoji once.
settings Making a call
- Open the person's profile or chat The call and video call controls are at the top.
- Compare the emoji when it connects Once per person is enough for that relationship; ask them to read theirs.
- Use the controls rather than hanging up Camera off, camera flip, mute — all of them keep the call alive.
- Minimise to keep talking The floating window keeps the call while you use the rest of the phone.
- Set the connection preference once Privacy and Security, calls, peer-to-peer. My Contacts is the sensible value.
This page is the call and its verification. The curriculum step is the plumbing: when a call goes directly between two devices and when it is relayed, what each option reveals, and how to choose without losing call quality.
At a glance
- 1Video calls
Switch camera, mute or turn video off during the call.
- 2Check the emoji
Matching emoji confirm nobody is in between.
- 3Direct or relayed
Direct connections can reveal your rough location.
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