# Telegram Adds Passkey Support, Still Requires Phone Number **URL:** https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/telegram-adds-passkey-support-still-requires-phone-number/34460 **Category:** News **Created:** 2026-01-07T06:32:39Z **Posts:** 28 ## Post 1 by @fria — 2026-01-07T06:32:39Z Telegram has [added](https://telegram.org/blog/passkeys-and-gift-offers) support for [passkeys](https://fidoalliance.org/passkeys/), a secure and convenient sign-in method, replacing SMS verification codes. * * * This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at [https://www.privacyguides.org/news/2026/01/07/telegram-adds-passkey-support-still-requires-phone-number](https://www.privacyguides.org/news/2026/01/07/telegram-adds-passkey-support-still-requires-phone-number) --- ## Post 2 by @PurpleDime — 2026-01-07T07:53:19Z **What doe is this mean exactly for people who are changing phones or want to use a Telegram on a second phone?** **If they are logged in on one phone, will they still require SMS verification to log in on the second?** [I have raised this issue before.](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/telegram-is-privacy-nightmare-personal-number-leak-and-otp-hijack/17518/20) It doesn’t make sense that you still need SMS verification to log in your Telegram account on a second phone, when that account is protected by password and an email address to verify your account. I personally have never used a passkey. My computer is not compatible. I recently got a new phone which is compatible with passkeys, but admittedly, I am not comfortable having a single verification device. If I lose my phone, I’m screwed. :frowning: --- ## Post 3 by @anon17412202 — 2026-01-07T09:38:33Z > [@PurpleDime](#): > > I personally have never used a passkey. My computer is not compatible. You can always use software passkeys with your password manager. It’s not OS dependent. --- ## Post 4 by @PurpleDime — 2026-01-07T09:59:29Z **Are you 100% sure it is not OS/device dependent?** I’ve always known that password managers support passkeys, including mine (1Password), but my understanding was that it only works if your device is compatible. Meaning that I can’t use passkeys with 1Password on my desktop to unlock my Google account, if my desktop doesn’t support passkeys. **Was I completely wrong about that?** --- ## Post 5 by @phnx — 2026-01-07T10:11:54Z It’s all very confusing, but I’m fairly sure that as long as your browser supports it, then an extension like 1Password should be able to store passkeys regardless of whether your OS supports them. That said, I STRONGLY discourage the use of software passkeys as they undermine some of the fundamental design goals of the FIDO2 standard by being exportable. --- ## Post 6 by @fria — 2026-01-07T10:19:08Z So you can install a password manager that supports passkeys on any device, and I believe browsers on every OS support passkeys so you can use them to log in to all your online accounts. But if you want to log in to a program that’s not in your browser via passkeys there needs to be OS support and I think currently Linux is behind there, although there is [work](https://www.iinuwa.xyz/blog/linux-passkeys-update/) being done on that front. --- ## Post 7 by @anon17412202 — 2026-01-07T10:50:04Z > [@phnx](#): > > as they undermine some of the fundamental design goals of the FIDO2 standard by being exportable. Can you explain what you mean here? --- ## Post 8 by @anon17412202 — 2026-01-07T10:53:34Z Depending on how you sign in, it is OS independent. Of course, exception is that it only works via browsers. If you want to log in to an app via a passkey, then it may not work as passkey will be stored in your password manager and your OS may not be able to make that work. I personally also set up TOTP as a back up 2FA and never have passkey as my only log in method. --- ## Post 9 by @PurpleDime — 2026-01-07T10:58:16Z Thanks. With that being said, the following is still unclear: > [@PurpleDime](#): > > **What doe is this mean exactly for people who are changing phones or want to use a Telegram on a second phone?** > > **If they are logged in on one phone, will they still require SMS verification to log in on the second?** > > [I have raised this issue before.](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/telegram-is-privacy-nightmare-personal-number-leak-and-otp-hijack/17518/20) @fria Do you know the answer to this? --- ## Post 10 by @anon17412202 — 2026-01-07T11:01:26Z I’m afraid I don’t use Telegram and am unfamiliar with it. While I understand some people may not be able to let it go for their own reasons, I always implore people to never stop finding ways to. It is truly a terrible app for your privacy and security. But I’m guessing you know that already. --- ## Post 11 by @fria — 2026-01-07T11:28:51Z According to the blog post, you don’t need SMS verification if you use passkeys: [Passkeys, Gift Purchase Offers and More](https://telegram.org/blog/passkeys-and-gift-offers#:%5C~:text=You%20can%20now%20create%20a%20passkey%20on%20your%20device%20to%20instantly%20log%20in%20to%20Telegram%20with%20a%20PIN%20or%20biometric%20data%20like%20Face%20ID%20and%20fingerprints%20%E2%80%94%20instead%20of%20an%20SMS%20code) . But you still need a phone number. --- ## Post 12 by @PurpleDime — 2026-01-07T13:27:42Z I see. I look forward to testing this. If am able to log in on a 2nd phone without SMS verification, then this is great news. But if I still require it, I’ll be disappointed. > [@anon17412202](#): > > I’m afraid I don’t use Telegram and am unfamiliar with it. While I understand some people may not be able to let it go for their own reasons, I always implore people to never stop finding ways to. It is truly a terrible app for your privacy and security. But I’m guessing you know that already. **1000% agree.** I mainly use Telegram to keep up with certain news outlets and the development of certain apps who have a presence there. I also have a few family members who are still on it, and it would be hard to convert them to Signal, which is my default messaging app. If you only talk to certain people on Telegram and WhatsApp just a couple of times a year, they are highly unlikely to feel compelled to move to a new app for you. Especially if they know that you are still present on Telegram and WhatsApp. Even if you follow Michael Bazzell’s advice to deliberately respond slowly on Telegram/WhatsApp and faster on Signal, to people you only talk to a couple of times a year, it is not going to matter. It will only matter if they have an emergency and need you, which is, again, unlikely. The family members I have on Telegram and WhatsApp don’t live in the same country as me, and I haven’t seen them in years. --- ## Post 13 by @kissu — 2026-01-08T09:27:21Z Late to the party but passkeys have a great support: - [CanIUse](https://caniuse.com/passkeys), 95% on relevant browsers - [passkeys.dev](https://passkeys.dev/device-support/) I guess that a hardware one is even better because it pretty needs a basic USB support. And from my experience, iOS + Android (even on GOS) + Linux + MacOS work flawlessly with them[[1]](#footnote-132276-1). * * * > [@PurpleDime](#): > > Even if you follow Michael Bazzell’s advice to deliberately respond slowly on Telegram/WhatsApp and faster on Signal, to people you only talk to a couple of times a year, it is not going to matter. What an evil :smiling_face_with_horns: fancy :sparkles: practice. PS: I just realized I faced the same treatment with a non-Signal user that replies super slowly on Signal but not on the other one, uh oh. :speak_no_evil_monkey: * * * 1. I don’t know about Windows, haven’t spined such bad boi in a long time but probably works there too! [↩︎](#footnote-ref-132276-1) --- ## Post 14 by @PurpleDime — 2026-01-08T09:59:18Z > [@kissu](#): > > ![](https://forum-cdn.privacyguides.net/user_avatar/discuss.privacyguides.net/purpledime/48/4885_2.png) PurpleDime: > > > Even if you follow Michael Bazzell’s advice to deliberately respond slowly on Telegram/WhatsApp and faster on Signal, to people you only talk to a couple of times a year, it is not going to matter. > > What an evil :smiling_face_with_horns: fancy :sparkles: practice. > > PS: I just realized I faced the same treatment with a non-Signal user that replies super slowly on Signal but not on the other one, uh oh. :speak_no_evil_monkey: I’m sorry. Yeah, that happens. IMO, the most significant factor in converting someone to Signal is your social capital. If you don’t care about privacy but the person who could get you your dream job is on it, you will join Signal. Same if people find your cool and interesting for whatever reason. It’s almost as if people have to be drawn to you for reasons that have nothing to do with privacy. If they don’t need you, if they don’t have strong positive feeling about you, IMO, your chances are very low. It sucks, but to me that’s the reality. I feel like I have to increase my social capital in order for people to be receptive to my privacy messaging. --- ## Post 15 by @kissu — 2026-01-08T10:15:43Z Time to open a [OnlyPrivacy.com](http://OnlyPrivacy.com) account :eggplant: or start streaming then. :joy: Money is meanwhile an easy one yes, but I think it’s hard to have a job person requiring you to join them on Signal, it’s usually the opposite: WhatsApp or alike. :woman_shrugging:t2: --- ## Post 16 by @ph00lt0 — 2026-01-08T22:44:12Z Not really sure we should call anything about telegram privacy news… --- ## Post 17 by @fria — 2026-01-08T22:54:15Z A lot of people use it, and they do offer optional E2EE chats. Plus it’s good to show off when they do something good so other messengers can follow I think. --- ## Post 18 by @securitybrahh — 2026-01-09T02:14:38Z Just to strawman telegram. 1. You can use disposable numbers on tg, and keep account access independent of device - you can use email/2faPass/only-number/2fa-sent-on-previous-tg for logging in on another device (can’t do with WhatsApp) 2. Passkeys are independent of device if using bitwarden for eg. 3. Data is obscurly on different jurisdiction-ly diverse servers 4. You can have a fully anon seperate / alter ego account on tg The only other alternative to tg/discord can be something nostr based, I wrote up a Readme here: > **[GitHub - empiresec-co/latent: KMP community Instant messenger optimised for its...](https://github.com/empiresec-co/latent/)** > > KMP community Instant messenger optimised for its own private nostr relay. On matrix / element, you are trusting the server admin [https://infosec-handbook.eu/articles/xmpp-aitm/](https://infosec-handbook.eu/articles/xmpp-aitm/) And matrix has questionably security practices > **[Security Issues in Matrix’s Olm Library - Dhole Moments](https://soatok.blog/2024/08/14/security-issues-in-matrixs-olm-library/)** > > I don’t consider myself exceptional in any regard, but I stumbled upon a few cryptography vulnerabilities in Matrix’s Olm library with so little effort that it was nearly accidental. It… Simplex is another option but I don’t see any business model that can work there, also its clogs client memory - and NO messenger app has feature parity with telegram. Phone number is mostly a spam fighting trick, moderation is also a problem on simplex - also no discoverability. --- ## Post 19 by @PurpleDime — 2026-02-26T17:29:19Z > [@securitybrahh](#): > > You can use disposable numbers on tg, and keep account access independent of device - you can use email/2faPass/only-number/2fa-sent-on-previous-tg for logging in on another device (can’t do with WhatsApp) I created a Telegram account years ago with a disposable number. It still works. I was always logged in on at last 2 devices simultaneously. So far, as long as I have been logged on one device I have been able to sign onto new devices. That being said, I have admittedly never logged onto a new phone with this Telegram account. Like Signal, Telegram seem to treat second phones differently from other types of devices. I have an email alias and 2FA passphrase linked to my Telegram account. And because of that I have always assumed that I would be able to log onto a new phone with that account without having to verify my phone number, which doesn’t exist anymore. I made that assumption because Telegram always sends verification codes to all the devices where you are already logged in. That being said, since Telegram started charging some countries for SMS verification, I am slightly less confident about my chances, but still somewhat confident. My account was created with a US virtual number. --- ## Post 20 by @Encounter5729 — 2026-02-27T20:28:25Z If you are already logged in, you will just receive a code on Telegram itself. --- ## Post 21 by @PurpleDime — 2026-02-27T20:46:45Z **Are you 100% sure of this?** Because that is not the experience of many users since [Telegram started charging for SMS verification in some countries.](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/telegram-is-privacy-nightmare-personal-number-leak-and-otp-hijack/17518/20) Many users are reporting that when they try to log into their Telegram account on a new phone, they are prompted to pay for SMS verification. They are not sent the verification code on other devices where they are already logged in. Meaning that even if they are already logged in on other devices, Telegram insists on SMS verification, and that they pay for it. Even people who have 2FA enabled with an email address and password on Telegram, will be prompted to verify their account via SMS despite being logged in on other devices. Before when you logged in on a new phone, Telegram would send you a code via SMS, and simultaneously send that same code on Telegram to all the devices where you are already logged in. Since Telegram started charging for SMS verification, that is not the case anymore. --- ## Post 22 by @Encounter5729 — 2026-02-27T20:53:07Z Well, I had the case because I logged in on the same phone but with another client. So another device I don’t know. --- ## Post 23 by @Julie — 2026-02-27T20:59:22Z I use Telegram only on PC. When I installed telegram on a second laptop (Canada IP) it did not send an sms but rather a code on the other logged telegram client. --- ## Post 24 by @PurpleDime — 2026-02-27T23:11:05Z > [@Encounter5729](#): > > Well, I had the case because I logged in on the same phone but with another client. So another device I don’t know. As you say, it’s a different client on the same phone. Also, you may live in a region where you won’t get charged for SMS verification. **May I ask which client is it?** > [@Julie](#): > > I use Telegram only on PC. > > When I installed telegram on a second laptop (Canada IP) it did not send a SMS but rather a code on the other logged telegram client. You missed a key part of what I said. **Like Signal, Telegram doesn’t treat 2nd phones the same way as other types of secondary devices like tablets and laptops.** Signal allows you to install their app on other devices (desktop, iPad, etc…) but not on a second phone. You can only have Signal on one phone. With Telegram, it’s a little different. Telegram allows you to use their app on a second or third phone, but they treat verification for phones differently than they treat verification on desktop or web. At least since they started charging for SMS verification. If you live in region where Telegram charges for SMS verification, and you install it on a new computer, you won’t have any issues logging into your account. But if you install it on a second phone, they will require SMS verification. **This is why I asked if using a passkey allows you to bypass verification when you install Telegram on a new phone. Because that is very much still unclear.** You installed Telegram on PC, so no issues there. But even to use Telegram on a PC, you have to be logged on another device, most likely a phone. There is no way you were able to create your Telegram account without SMS verification. --- ## Post 25 by @iluvprivacy — 2026-02-28T09:01:13Z Why is anyone still using Telegram in 2026? I don’t get it. Is it almost like an Eastern European version of WhatsApp? --- ## Post 26 by @TinFoilHat — 2026-02-28T12:17:02Z It is very handy and feature rich (esp. 3rd party integration via. bots and API) , and offers generous package for non-paid users. Even more so for large groups, content moderation / delivery and spam protection is basically unmatched. --- ## Post 27 by @fria — 2026-02-28T17:20:49Z WhatsApp is actually E2EE so Telegram is objectively worse. --- ## Post 28 by @iluvprivacy — 2026-02-28T22:21:46Z Oh? Maybe I’m missing out then. What’s the safest and private way to use Telegram?