Bettergram is a new app, launched to improve upon the UI of the Telegram messaging service app and tailor to crypto enthusiasts. Bettergram features include the ability to pin more chats to the top of a user’s chat feed, chat groups, and in-app crypto price monitoring.
Telegram is used as the go-to news dissemination and community discussion app in the crypto industry. Yet, despite users’ demands, for months at least, it has been resistant to making certain UI improvements.
Telegram… Begging you to allow us to pin more than 5 chats. The UX is absolutely brutal. It should be a super simple fix. @telegram
Retweet this if you want them to see it!
— Crypto Max (@livecoinwatchmb) March 8, 2018
Addressing Crypto Users’ Pain Points
Explaining the motivation for the design, Bettergram outlined this on its site:
“Telegram is an essential part of our lives as tech entrepreneurs. Over 200+ million monthly active users love the app, but we believed it could be better. Thankfully, Telegram is 100% open source which allowed us build an improved UI/UX on top of their API.”
Regarding its revenue, Bettergram explained its rationale for in-app advertising:
“There’s a small unobtrusive text bar located at the top of the client which will be used for announcements like software updates and ads. We might have a paid upgrade to remove sponsored messages in the future. Green lambos aren’t cheap (It’s a matchbox car).”
Capitalizing on a User’s Needs
Since early this year, users have complained about the lack of features for users who follow dozens of chats and need easy information access at speed. Bettergram allows pinning of up to 50 chats, instead of Telegram’s 5, which is vital for users who follow crypto market movements on Telegram.
@telegram will you be considering the option to pin more chats? i found that very helpful to keep in contact with friends and loved ones.
— Draegen SweetTail (@DraegenD) February 25, 2017
Since Telegram is 100% open source, Bettergram was freely able to build on the technology. It was an odd failing from Telegram, considering its market dominance in the niche where many users prefer higher anonymity, privacy and security associated with Telegram’s protocols. Indeed, Telegram itself held a massive private ICO for its GRAM token, which raised $1.2bn, and it has announced plans to become a crypto payment platform.
