Mobile Notifications Are Finally Here Thanks to Telegram!

If you’ve been around here long enough you know that AG Forum notifications are sent via email and can sometimes take 10-15 minutes to arrive after something has triggered a notification. That’s pretty slow, and it’s especially inconvenient when we’re doing scheduling and time-based narrative things.

Enter, Telegram.

Telegram is a free and secure messaging app available in the Apple iOS and Google Play stores (and they also have great desktop clients.) The app has lots of cool functions, including channels, groups, and lots of privacy and security features. But best of all, Telegram plays well with other platforms, like our forum!

We’ve spent the past couple weeks integrating Telegram here at the forum, and I’m so happy to announce that it’s ready for launch!

With Ackerly Green’s @Magiqbot on Telegram, you can now instantly receive mobile notifications from the Ackerly Green forum, including replies, watched/tracked topics, and @ mentions.

You can also “like” posts directly from the app, and even reply!

Here’s how to get started:

1. Download the official Telegram app on either mobile or desktop
2. Start a chat with our very own custom @Magiqbot on Telegram.
3. Magiqbot will send you a unique “Chat ID” code in Telegram that you’ll input in your profile here on the forum.
4. Under Preferences, then Profile, you’ll find a field at the bottom for your Magiqbot code.

5. Enter the code, and that’s it! As long as you allow Telegram to send you notifications, you’ll receive future notifications from the AG forum in seconds!

6. If you’d like to stop the forum from also sending notifications to your email address, go back to Preferences here on the forum, then Emails.

7. You can see my settings above. I disabled email notifications for mentions, watching, and replies, but I suggest allowing Discourse to continue sending you weekly (or daily if you prefer) digests of new activity on the forum, that way you don’t miss anything.

The Telegram app won’t currently notify you about new posts, but we’re working on creating a special Telegram channel where you can also receive those!

And that’s it!

Once activated, you can read the first 50-100 characters of replies, follow-ups, or mentions, and the preview will include the ability to like the post, to open the full post in a browser, and to even respond!

Last thing, make sure you allow notifications both in Telegram’s settings and in your device’s notification settings to make sure you receive them.

Android Users: Some Android devices may have Battery Optimization automatically turned on for Telegram which might prevent it from delivering notifications. If you’re not receiving alerts through the app, try the instructions below: