Telegram Returns to Wear OS After Five Years with Full Chat Access and Voice Messaging

Telegram has revived its Wear OS app five years after pulling the previous version from the Play Store in 2021. The new app arrived as part of Telegram's latest update, alongside a native Apple Watch app that landed a few days earlier in the same release cycle.

The return is notable for the sheer gap in platform support. When Telegram last had a Wear OS app, the Pixel Watch didn't exist yet and Samsung's Galaxy Watch was still running Tizen. This is the first time either of those platforms have a native Telegram client.

The app gives wrist-based access to users' full chat list, letting them scroll through conversations of any length without reaching for a phone. Shared photos and videos are viewable inline. Users can listen to incoming voice messages and record and send their own from the watch. Text replies are supported, as are sticker sends.

For managing conversations, the app includes mute, pin, and delete controls directly on the watch face. The Wear OS version currently lacks two features available on the Apple Watch release — viewing shared locations and sending stickers. Telegram has said both are coming to Wear OS in the next update.

The Telegram Wear OS app is available now through the Google Play Store for supported smartwatches including Pixel Watch, Galaxy Watch, and Xiaomi Watch running Wear OS.

Sources:

• YugaTech
• 9to5Google