Telegram is Preparing to Launch a Store for Bots and Mini Apps

Pavel Durov recently shared plans to develop a platform for bot and mini-app developers.

According to Durov, the recently introduced payment system "Stars" is not only beneficial for developers but also complies with Apple and Google rules. Therefore, Telegram plans to recommend bots and mini-apps that accept star payments in appropriate sections of the apps.

As an example of such recommendations, the founder of Telegram mentioned the "AI" section in the upcoming mini-app store. This section could be displayed to business representatives who add bots for handling customer feedback, as well as bots that assist users with the official sticker editor.

#bots #stars

Telegram has begun blocking bots that have not switched to Telegram Stars

On June 12, following a prior warning, Telegram started blocking certain bots that have not transitioned to the new Telegram Stars platform which now handles the transactions of digital goods and services in accordance with with Google Play and App Store rules.

When users attempt to interact with these blocked bots, the message displayed in the image above is shown.

It is worth mentioning that the Russian strings specifically state that the bot isn't being displayed due to App Store guidelines, whilst in English it is stated that the bot could not be displayed without any further information.

#stars

Paid posts are now available on any channel

Previously, we reported that the ability to publish paid posts depended on the number of channel subscribers as well as the composition of its audience.

Now, paid posts can be published on any channel.

#stars

Pavel Durov on "Telegram Stars" and Upcoming Mini-App Bar Enhancements

Pavel Durov announced that channel owners can now convert Telegram Stars received for paid posts into Toncoin.

Additionally, he mentioned that the new bottom mini-app bar will soon allow users to save web pages and other content for later reading.

#stars

Support Posts by Sending Stars

Section 2.3 Subscriber Donations has revealed the ability to support posts by sending a dedicated star reaction on eligible channels.

Channel owners will be able to exchange the received stars on posts for Toncoin.

This does not mean other reactions will become paid. There is only one, dedicated star reaction that appears on eligible channels.

It is important to note that the behaviour of the feature we have explained is subject to change; it is not the final product, and has not been officially announced yet.

#stars

Rewards for Channel Owners

On June 30th, Telegram's official blog released an article mentioning, among other updates, the ability for channel owners to earn income through paid media content. In this post, the @tginfo editorial team explains what is known about this feature.

1. A channel administrator can publish a paid post. This feature is available to any channel administrators, regardless of the number of subscribers, type of channel (private or public), and other factors. The feature seems to not be available for channels that got marked as 18+ (such channels, for example, can't be viewed on iOS devices without disabling filtering).

2. If a subscriber pays to view such a post using "stars," these stars are credited to the channel's balance.

3. The channel's balance can be viewed on the "Monetization" tab in the "Statistics" section. This tab is visible only to the channel owner. For some channels, such as @tginfo, this tab became available only on July 4th, suggesting that the feature is being rolled out gradually.

4. Stars can be withdrawn from the channel no sooner than 21 days after they have been received. This is detailed in section "4.1 Balance" of the Terms of Service for Content Creators.

5. This section also outlines other important details about withdrawing stars. For instance, users are responsible for "timely" withdrawing all stars they have received, and the Telegram platform reserves the right to independently decide the timeframe for these withdrawals.

6. According to the article on Telegram's official blog, stars can be withdrawn in two ways: either by purchasing advertising on promote.telegram.org or by exchanging them for Toncoin through the Fragment.com platform. It is not yet known if both options are always available in all cases.

#stars #monetization

UPD July 7. Added into about availability for 18+ channels

Beta Version of Telegram for Android Displays Stars in All Channels

In the Beta version of Telegram for Android, channel owners have the ability to access the Monetization tab regardless of the number of subscribers.

The @tginfo editor team reminds you that this tab was not previously shown in small channels, and some additional conditions still need to be met to withdraw earned stars.

#stars #monetization

Purchasing Stars on the Fragment Platform

The auction platform Fragment now offers the ability to purchase Telegram Stars.

You can buy them for yourself or as a gift for another Telegram user.

Purchasing Telegram Stars through the platform is commission-free from app stores, making it a more cost effective option.

#stars

Buying and Gifting Stars via @premiumbot

Telegram users can now buy and gift stars via official bot @premiumbot.

To do this, choose the required option in bot menu or send /stars command to it, and then follow the bot hints.

#stars

Prepaid Stars on Fragment for Giveaways

The Fragment platform now provides the option to prepay stars for hosting giveaways in Telegram channels and groups

• Purchases on Fragment are made using TON, free from app store commissions. However, KYC verification is required.

• You can purchase a large quantity of stars at once on Fragment, making it ideal for large-scale giveaways.

• After purchasing stars on Fragment, you only need to launch the giveaway from the channel or chat settings page. Detailed instructions will appear after paying for stars on the Fragment platform.

#Fragment #stars

Gift Exchange For Stars Is Limited To 90 Days

The ability to send gifts by paying for them with stars became available to users on October 6. The recipient of such a gift can not only publish it in their profile, but also exchange it for stars with a 15% commission.

Just a few days after this feature appeared, users noticed that when trying to exchange a gift for stars, the application warns that such an exchange is only available for 90 days after the gift is received.

For the very first gifts, this period expires in early January 2025, approximately 01/05/2025. We have no information on whether Telegram applications will remind users in advance that some gifts will soon become impossible to exchange for stars.

If you intend to make such an exchange, make sure that you do not miss the moment when it becomes impossible.

To find out when the gift exchange period for stars expires, you need to open the screen of this gift and click the "Sell for xx stars" button.

#stars

Non-Obvious Privacy Aspects When Sending Star Reactions

In August 2024, Telegram introduced the ability for users to send star reactions to channel posts, and in February 2025 — the ability to send such reactions not only on their own behalf, but also on behalf of any of their public channels.

The privacy settings for both types of reactions are not obvious. If you expect that no one will know your name, keep in mind the following:

1. When sending a paid reaction on your own behalf, the application allows you to disable the "Show me in Top Senders" option. If the user disables it, then neither their name nor their profile picture will be displayed to other channel subscribers, even if they are among the three donors who sent the most stars to the post.
However, even in this case, the owner of the channel to which the stars were sent will see the sender's name in the "Monetization" tab in the channel settings.

2. When sending a paid reaction, the application allows the user to select one of the public channels that they own. In this case, the list of the top 3 senders will not display the name of the sender, but the name of the channel that they chose.
However, the owner of the channel to which the stars were sent will see the sender's name in the "Monetization" tab in the channel settings. By comparing it with the list of top 3 senders of stars to a specific post, the channel owner can find out who exactly owns the channel on whose behalf the stars were sent.

Be careful: Telegram applications do not warn users sending star reactions about these nuances.

#reactions #stars #privacy

Telegram is Testing Paid Messages

Users have noticed that Telegram is testing paid messages in private and group chats.

What is known now:
• The group owner or conversation partner can enable this feature at their discretion. When paid, the majority of the stars go to the recipient of the message or the owner of the group.
• The paid messages setting will be available in private chats and groups.
• Paid message settings may differ for different types of chats.

There is no reliable information about other aspects of the future feature yet. At present, the feature is only available to some users and only on Telegram's test server.

#stars

Telegram Begins Revocation of Fraudulently Obtained Stars, Gifts, and Premium Subscriptions

Some Telegram users have received notifications from the official Telegram account stating that their Stars, gifts, and Premium subscriptions have been revoked.

This action occurs when senders gift items to other users and later initiate chargebacks — likely through their bank. As a result, the funds are returned to the sender, and the gifted items or subscriptions are revoked from the recipient.

The @tginfo editorial team has no information on what happens if recipients have already spent the Stars by the time the revocation occurs.

Updated at 07:30 UTC
1. Users probably could request refunds not only from banks, but also from app stores.
2. If users paid for a purchase from a bot with stars, and then request a refund of the funds paid for these stars, and the bank returns the funds, then the corresponding stars are revoked from the bot balance.
3. After the stars are revoked, the balance can be less than zero.

#Stars #Gifts #Premium