Telegram Messenger vs SOLE SMILING
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Telegram Messenger
A fast, secure, and feature-rich instant messaging application. It offers end-to-end encryption for private chats, large file sharing, and group chats with up to 200,000 members. The app is designed for reliability, even on weak mobile connections, and provides extensive customization options.
- Fast and secure instant messaging
- Cross-device synchronization
- Unlimited media and file sharing
- End-to-end encrypted secret chats
- Large group chats up to 200,000 members
- Customizable themes and animated stickers
- Bot platform for tasks
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Pure instant messaging — simple, fast, secure, and synced across all your devices. One of the top 5 most downloaded apps in the world with over 1 billion active users. FAST: Telegram is the fastest messaging app on the market, connecting people via a unique, distributed network of data centers around the globe. SYNCED: You can access your messages from all your phones, tablets and computers at once. Telegram apps are standalone, so you don’t need to keep your phone connected. Start typing on one device and finish the message from another. Never lose your data again. UNLIMITED: You can send media and files, without any limits on their type and size. Your entire chat history will require no disk space on your device, and will be securely stored in the Telegram cloud for as long as you need it. SECURE: We made it our mission to provide the best security combined with ease of use. Everything on Telegram, including chats, groups, media, etc. is encrypted using a combination of 256-bit symmetric AES encryption, 2048-bit RSA encryption, and Diffie–Hellman secure key exchange. 100% FREE & OPEN: Telegram has a fully documented and free API for developers, open source apps and verifiable builds to prove the app you download is built from the exact same source code that is published. POWERFUL: You can create group chats with up to 200,000 members, share large videos, documents of any type (.DOCX, .MP3, .ZIP, etc.) up to 2 GB each, and even set up bots for specific tasks. Telegram is the perfect tool for hosting online communities and coordinating teamwork. RELIABLE: Built to deliver your messages using as little data as possible, Telegram is the most reliable messaging system ever made. It works even on the weakest mobile connections. FUN: Telegram has powerful photo and video editing tools, animated stickers and emoji, fully customizable themes to change the appearance of your app, and an open sticker/GIF platform to cater to all your expressive needs. SIMPLE: While providing an unprecedented array of features, we take great care to keep the interface clean. Telegram is so simple you already know how to use it. PRIVATE: We take your privacy seriously and will never give any third parties access to your data. You can delete any message you ever sent or received for both sides, at any time and without a trace. Telegram will never use your data to show you ads. For those interested in maximum privacy, Telegram offers Secret Chats. Secret Chat messages can be programmed to self-destruct automatically from both participating devices. This way you can send all types of disappearing content — messages, photos, videos, and even files. Secret Chats use End-to-End Encryption to ensure that a message can only be read by its intended recipient. We keep expanding the boundaries of what you can do with a messaging app. Don’t wait years for older messengers to catch up with Telegram — join the revolution today. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
SOLE SMILING
Discover a personalized content universe filled with unique bonds and connections. Engage with experiences tailored exclusively for you.
- Personalized content exploration
- Unique bonds and connections
- Tailored experiences
- Social networking
- Content discovery
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Explore a vibrant universe of content, bonds, connections and experiences unique only to you.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: SOLE SMILING at 100% against Telegram Messenger's 34%. SOLE SMILING also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.0) and in-app purchases (none vs 10). Telegram Messenger's advantage is ratings volume (286K vs 2) and chart position (#3 vs unranked). On price, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Telegram Messenger sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. SOLE SMILING asks for nothing beyond the download.
SOLE SMILING holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Telegram Messenger has 286K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 34% of Telegram Messenger's written reviews are positive against 100% of SOLE SMILING's.
Telegram Messenger ships an update weekly, SOLE SMILING every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on November 12, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Telegram Messenger | SOLE SMILING |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (286K ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 34.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 286K — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 11 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #3 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 244 MB | 373 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Telegram FZ-LLC | SOLE SMILING LLC |
Customer experience
Telegram Messenger
SOLE SMILING
Bugs and requests
Telegram Messenger
Reported bugs
5 issues- Keyboard issues and cursor placement problems
- Frequent app crashes, especially in large group chats
- Inaccurate 'last seen' timestamps
- Notification issues and duplicate messages
- Problems with media auto-save and download
Requested features
5 requests- Add video calling feature
- Improve search capabilities
- Implement a story/status feature
- Allow more customization options
- Segregate channels, bots, and individual chats
SOLE SMILING
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Telegram Messenger
- Telegram Premium$4.991 Month
- Telegram Premium Annual$35.991 Year
- 1x Telegram Premium (One Week)$1.19
- 100 Telegram Stars$1.99
- 250 Telegram Stars$5.09
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- 500 Telegram Stars$9.99
- 750 Telegram Stars$14.99
- 1000 Telegram Stars$19.99
- 1500 Telegram Stars$29.99
- 2500 Telegram Stars$50.90
SOLE SMILING
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Telegram Messenger free?
Is SOLE SMILING free?
Which has better reviews, Telegram Messenger or SOLE SMILING?
Do Telegram Messenger or SOLE SMILING have ads?
Which is updated more often, Telegram Messenger or SOLE SMILING?
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