Windows Phone enthusiasts are experiencing a resurgence of excitement this week, following the recent launch of 8Marketplace, an unofficial app store tailored for their beloved platform. In a delightful twist, a new native Telegram client named Vianigram has emerged, showcasing the unwavering dedication of this niche community in 2026.
Telegram unofficially arrives on Windows Phone
The innovative Vianigram app, developed by a user known as LegitimatePost2701 on Reddit, is not merely a wrapper or webview; it is a fully-fledged native client built on the MTProto protocol. This development signifies a remarkable leap for Windows Phone users, who have long awaited a robust messaging solution.
Vianigram boasts an impressive array of features, including:
- Comprehensive login options (phone, SMS, two-factor authentication, QR code, and signup)
- Real-time chats powered by MTProto, eliminating the need for stubs
- A chat list with pagination and live updates
- Typing indicators, online status, and read receipts
- A chat interface with message bubbles for text, photos, voice notes, documents, and polls
- Rich text formatting options (bold, italic, spoilers, links, mentions)
- Voice messages with waveform visualization and scrubbing capabilities
- Background synchronization using system tasks, circumventing the need for reliable push notifications
- Locally generated toast notifications and live tiles
- Efficient coordination between the user interface and background processes via a single MTProto socket
- High-definition avatars with preview and asynchronous loading
- Least Recently Used (LRU) caching for chat pages
Despite its impressive capabilities, Vianigram is still a work in progress. The developer acknowledges that due to the decline of push notifications on Windows Phone, they have implemented a workaround to keep users informed about their chats. This includes a maintenance task that runs every 30 minutes, near real-time wake events for VoIP, and a caching system for toast notifications and tile updates.
It took a bit of tinkering to get it working properly
While the app is functional, users may encounter some drawbacks. Notifications can experience delays when the app is completely closed, and the user interfaces for calls and messages require further refinement. Nevertheless, the availability of a working Telegram client on Windows Phone in 2026 is a significant achievement. Interested users can search for the Telegram channels PivoraApps or VianiumApps to download the app and join the conversation.
