Telegram’s Latest Update Brings Passkey Logins, Scam Protection For Gifts, And Small Story Improvements

Telegram has rolled out a new update, and this one feels less about adding flashy features and more about tightening up loose ends. The focus is pretty clear: make logins safer, reduce scams around digital gifts, and smooth out how Stories work.

Nothing here radically changes how you use Telegram. But if you spend a lot of time on the app, the updates are noticeable.

Logging In Without SMS Is Finally Here

The biggest change is passkey support.

Instead of waiting for an SMS code every time you log in, you can now use your phone’s fingerprint, face unlock, or device PIN. The passkey lives on your device and uses encrypted authentication, so there’s no code flying around that can get intercepted.

If you’ve ever had Telegram lock you out because an SMS didn’t arrive, this should feel like a relief. It also cuts down the risk of SIM-swap attacks, which have been an ongoing problem with SMS-based logins.

You can turn it on from the security settings. Telegram still suggests keeping your phone number linked as a backup, which makes sense.

Gift Purchases Get Some Guardrails

Telegram is also trying to clean up how digital gifts are bought and sold on the platform.

With this update, users can make direct offers on gifts shown on someone’s profile using Telegram Stars or TON. The key difference is how payments are handled. The money isn’t sent immediately.

Instead, it’s held temporarily. If the seller accepts the offer, the gift transfers automatically. If they don’t, or the offer expires, the money comes back to you. No chasing, no awkward back-and-forth.

It’s a small change, but it removes a lot of the trust issues that usually come with peer-to-peer digital transactions.

Stories Get A Small But Useful Upgrade

There’s also a quieter update to Stories.

You can now add audio directly from your profile’s playlist while creating a Story. It’s tucked into the Stickers menu and saves you from jumping through extra steps just to add music.

If you post Stories often, it makes the whole thing feel less clunky. If you don’t, you probably won’t notice it at all.