Telegram for Wear OS returns after five years. You can type and dictate messages from your watch.

Owners of smartwatches with Wear OS have been out of luck for years – a full-fledged Telegram app was missing. That’s changing now. Telegram has released a new app for both Wear OS and Apple Watch, and you can handle most common communication from your wrist display. A new feature is that you can also dictate messages as voice notes directly from your watch.

What Telegram can do on Wear OS

The new watch app is not a full-fledged client, but it’s more than enough for quick responses to messages. You can browse the list of conversations, open photos and video messages, and read messages in full length – not just a cropped preview, as is often the case on small displays.

There are two ways to write: classic text, or you can dictate the message directly as a voice note. You can also play incoming voice messages on your watch. Basic conversation management is also at hand – you can mute a chat, pin it to the top, or delete a message you sent by mistake.

Telegram for Wear OS returns after five years. You can type and dictate messages from your watch. Adam Kurfürst News Adam Kurfürst News

Telegram itself describes its app more as a quick control panel for moments when you don’t have your phone at hand, rather than a full replacement for it. For longer writing, you’ll still reach for your mobile phone; the watch will serve for quick reading and replying.

Return after five years

Telegram withdrew its original smartwatch app back in 2021. It was a relic – dating back to a time when Pixel Watch didn’t exist yet and Samsung ran the Tizen system on its Galaxy Watch models. The new version targets today’s watches, namely Google Pixel Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch. It is released concurrently with the fresh app for Apple Watch.

What’s still missing on Wear OS

Both platforms are not entirely equal. Location sharing and sending stickers are currently only available in the Apple Watch version; Wear OS is expected to get them later, according to Telegram. The developer jokingly attributed this to each of his programmers adding something different – one muting and pinning chats, the other locations and stickers.

Will you use Telegram directly from your smartwatch?

Sources: Telegram, 9to5Google, Android Authority