Recent changes

• [MG] allow hiding stories from non-contacts and non-joined channels
• [MG] add saved message history (anti-delete/anti-edit)
• [MG] add option to use system font
• [MG] always allow copying inline tap-to-copy
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• [MG] add translation contribution guide
• [MG] add option to disable Live Photos by default
• [MG] add hidden accounts
• [MG] add in-app autoupdater with signature verification
• [MG] add AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md
• [MG] add release workflow and script
• [MG] add per-ABI F-Droid flavors
• [MG] refresh README and add branding assets
• [MG] re-add Monet themes (Material You dynamic colors)
• [MG] add administrators menu item in group/channel info
• [MG] Message Details menu and debug toggles
• [MG] add option to hide All Chats tab
• [MG] hide keyboard on chat scroll
• [MG] use rear camera for round video messages
• [MG] send large photos
• [MG] show user ID in Profile
• [MG] unlock premium account limits and app icons
• [MG] add Mercurygram push gateways (Python, Rust)
• [MG] build infrastructure: Fastlane metadata
• [MG] Mercurygram branding
• [TF] integrate UnifiedPush as FOSS replacement for FCM
• [TF] Telegram-FOSS README and documentation
• [TF] support geo: intent sharing
• [TF] externalize API keys and clear Google credentials
• [TF] replace Apple emoji with Noto
• [TF] disable DNS-over-HTTPS

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Mercurygram

Telegram is a messaging app with a focus on speed and security. It’s superfast, simple and free.

This is an unofficial fork of Telegram App for Android, maintained by rebasing Mercurygram patches and forward-ported de-googling patches on top of upstream Telegram.

Install

Mercurygram publishes two kinds of build. The tag shape tells you which:

Channel	Tag shape	Example	Packages	When it ships
Stable	4-part X.Y.Z.M (M ≥ 1)	12.7.3.1	stable only (it.belloworld.mercurygram)	Tagged release. Also goes to F-Droid / IzzyOnDroid.
Snapshot	5-part X.Y.Z.M.K (M ≥ 1)	12.7.3.1.42	both stable and beta (it.belloworld.mercurygram.beta)	Every push to the Mercurygram branch (beta.yml). Snapshot of the next stable.
Pre-stable	5-part X.Y.Z.0.K	12.7.3.0.5	both stable and beta (it.belloworld.mercurygram.beta)	After an upstream rebase, before the first X.Y.Z.M (M ≥ 1) stable for that upstream ships (beta.yml).

Snapshots and pre-stable builds both publish two APKs per release: a Release-flavor APK that updates the stable package side and a Debug-flavor APK (filename infixed with -debug) that updates the .beta package side. Filenames: Mercurygram--.apk (Release) and Mercurygram-debug--.apk (Debug). Stable installs pull the Release APK via the in-app updater opt-in toggle; .beta installs pull the Debug APK.

Versions order naturally: 12.7.3.0.5 < 12.7.3.1 < 12.7.3.1.42 < 12.7.3.2.

One-click install via Obtainium

Open the link on your Android device and the app source pre-fills with the right release filter and package ID.

Stable — package it.belloworld.mercurygram. Tagged stable releases only.

Beta — package it.belloworld.mercurygram.beta. Per-push snapshots (X.Y.Z.M.K, M ≥ 1) and pre-stable test builds (X.Y.Z.0.K).

Stable users: the in-app updater can be opted in to pre-release updates from Settings → Mercurygram → Updates → Accept pre-release updates. Enabling shows a warning dialog; once installed a pre-release you can only turn the toggle off again after upgrading to a stable (4-part) release.

Features

• Add ID in Profile Info
• Add a menu in Notifications and Sounds in order to set the UnifiedPush distributor. The same menu may be long-clicked to inspect recent UnifiedPush notification/decryption stats
• Add a menu in Notifications and Sounds in order to set the UnifiedPush WebPush gateway
• Add toggle setting in Chat Settings to start video messages with rear-facing camera
• Add toggle setting in Chat Settings to hide keyboard on chat scroll
• Add toggle setting in Chat Setting to hide "All Chats" tab (feature from NekoX)
• Add administrators item in group/channel info
• Add toggle setting in Debug Menu to enable Message Details menu
• Add toggle setting in Debug Menu to disable Unified Push support
• Add toggle setting in Debug Menu to disable Secure Flags. This option must only be used for debugging
• Add toggle setting in Debug Menu to remove sponsored messages and proxy sponsor banners. This option must only be used for debugging
• Re-add Monet themes (#31)
• Disabled DOH resolving since this leaks your used proxy to Google and it's not needed since Android DNS over TLS should be used instead
• Unlock premium app icons for anybody
• Unlock 5 accounts (was 3) and remove premium check for number of accounts
• Add toggle setting in Chat Settings to send large photos (2560px instead of 1280px)
• Telegram application icons are replaced with hermes wing (Created by Anthony Ledoux from Noun Project)

TF-originated de-googling patches

These patches were originally derived from the Telegram-FOSS effort, but Mercurygram now forward-ports and rebases them directly onto upstream Telegram.

Replacement of non-FOSS, untrustworthy or suspicious binaries or source code:

• Do location sharing with OpenStreetMap via MapLibre instead of Google Maps
• Use Noto emoji set instead of Apple's emoji
• Google/Firebase push services replaced with UnifiedPush
• SECURITY: BoringSSL, FFmpeg, libvpx, dav1d, and tde2e are built from source at compile time instead of shipping upstream prebuilts

Removal or stubbing of non-FOSS, untrustworthy or suspicious binaries or source code and their functionality:

• Google Play Services / Firebase dependencies from the default Mercurygram build and manifests
• Google Maps / Fused Location providers are stubbed out and replaced by MapLibre / Android location providers
• Google Wallet, SafetyNet, Play Integrity, and related proprietary verification pieces are stubbed out through local compatibility classes
• Google Cast integration
• Google ML Kit / Google Vision integrations, including barcode and face detection paths
• Android passkey support is disabled as Telegram servers verify the APK signature, which fails for unofficial forks

Other:

• Added the ability to parse locations from intents containing a geo:,, string
• Force static map previews from Telegram
• No content restrictions

Notes

In order to have reliable notifications, it may be necessary to set battery optimization to Not optimized for Mercurygram (no, it won't use more battery).

Background Connections setting is not necessary and uses lot of battery, so please disable it when you use UnifiedPush.

If you set Battery optimization to Not optimized, Keep-Alive Service will be not necessary.

See dontkillmyapp for more information.

If you can't/want set Battery optimization to Not optimized and you don't receive notifications after a while (more than 30 minutes) please enable Keep-Alive Service instead.

UnifiedPush WebPush gateway

Mercurygram uses Telegram's WebPush notifications through UnifiedPush.

When the app registers with a UnifiedPush distributor, it generates its own WebPush keypair and auth secret, then sends Telegram a WebPush token in JSON form:

<div class="highlight highlight-source-json notranslate position-relative overflow-auto" dir="auto" data-snippet-clipboard-copy-content="{"endpoint":"/aesgcm?e=","keys":{"p256dh":"...","auth":"..."}}">

{"endpoint":"/aesgcm?e=","keys":{"p256dh":"...","auth":"..."}}

Telegram encrypts notifications with WebPush aesgcm (Draft 4) and sends them to the configured gateway. The gateway forwards them to the chosen UnifiedPush distributor while embedding the Encryption and Crypto-Key headers into the request body, because UnifiedPush distributors do not preserve arbitrary HTTP headers.

Mercurygram then decrypts the payload locally and passes the MTProto notification payload to Telegram's normal notification pipeline. If decryption fails, it falls back to a wake-up notification path.

The gateway is configurable from Notifications and Sounds. Mercurygram currently defaults to https://p2p.belloworld.it/.

Note: ntfy.sh (the public hosted instance) does not work through the default Mercurygram gateway at p2p.belloworld.it/. That gateway is hosted on OCI infrastructure, and its IP is repeatedly blocked by ntfy.sh due to connection volume. The production nginx in front of the gateway short-circuits ntfy.sh endpoints with an immediate 201 response instead of proxying them. If you want to use ntfy, prefer a self-hosted instance.

Two self-hostable gateway implementations are included in this repository:

• Python
• Rust

The public Rust instance only accepts Telegram server IP ranges (https://core.telegram.org/resources/cidr.txt) to reduce abuse.

For a couple of reasons:

• Mercury is the Roman, and I'm Italian, God and the "messenger of the gods"
• The logo is a stylized 'F' representing his winged shoes, but it also resembles an 'F' in honor of Freddy Mercury.

See CONTRIBUTING.md for the contribution guide. Translations of the Mercurygram-only strings are especially welcome — translators do not need to know the codebase, just edit the relevant TMessagesProj/src/main/res/values-/strings.xml and open a PR. Run ./scripts/check-mg-translations.sh to see which keys are still missing per locale.

• drizzt
• you? :)

• quqkuk

• thermatk
• you? :)

• slp
• Bubu
• Sudokamikaze
• l2dy
• maximgrafin
• vn971
• theel0ja
• AnXh3L0
• noplanman
• vk496
• verdulo
• anupritaisno1
• nekohasekai
• kdrag0n
• terachad
• ppnplus
• luvletter2333
• 23rd
• proletarius101
• CWJamieson
• verdulo
• tehcneko

Tag shape encodes the release channel (see the Install section for the table):

• Stable — X.Y.Z.M (4-part, M ≥ 1). X.Y.Z is the upstream Telegram version; M is the Mercurygram minor revision on top of it. Goes to the it.belloworld.mercurygram package, F-Droid, IzzyOnDroid.
• Snapshot — X.Y.Z.M.K (5-part, M ≥ 1). Per-push automated build between stable X.Y.Z.M and X.Y.Z.(M+1). K is per-MG_VERSION_NAME-bump monotonic. Goes to the it.belloworld.mercurygram.beta package and (for opted-in stable installs) the it.belloworld.mercurygram package.
• Pre-stable — X.Y.Z.0.K (5-part, M = 0). Per-push automated build issued between an upstream rebase and the first X.Y.Z.M (M ≥ 1) stable for that upstream. Lets testers exercise the upcoming stable before it gets the official 4-part tag. Stops being published once any X.Y.Z.M ≥ 1 stable exists for the current upstream. M = 0 is the namespace marker — no X.Y.Z.0 4-part tag is ever created.

Pure lex compare on the dotted integer vector (shorter padded with zero) gives the right chronology: 12.7.3.0.5 < 12.7.3.1 < 12.7.3.1.42 < 12.7.3.2.

MgUpdateChecker records the tag the in-app updater last installed in SharedConfig.mgLastInstalledTag and uses that for comparisons — runtime versionName/versionCode alone can't distinguish a 5-part snapshot from the stable it's a snapshot of.

Telegram API manuals: https://core.telegram.org/api

MTproto protocol manuals: https://core.telegram.org/mtproto

NOTE: Building on Windows is, unfortunately, not supported. Consider using a Linux VM or dual booting.

Prerequisites: Android SDK with the NDK version pinned by ndkVersion in TMessagesProj/build.gradle, JDK 17, and Ninja.

Clone the repository (submodules are initialized automatically at build time):

git clone github.com/Mercurygram/Mercurygram.git 

Build with Android Studio or from the command line:

# Fat APK (all ABIs) ./gradlew assembleAfatRelease  # Single-ABI APKs (F-Droid) ./gradlew assembleAfatFdArm32Release   # armeabi-v7a ./gradlew assembleAfatFdArm64Release   # arm64-v8a ./gradlew assembleAfatFdX86Release     # x86 ./gradlew assembleAfatFdX86_64Release  # x86_64

Native libraries (FFmpeg, BoringSSL, libvpx, dav1d, tde2e) are built from source automatically on the first build and cached for subsequent runs.

If you want to publish a modified version of Telegram:

• You should get your own API key here: https://core.telegram.org/api/obtaining_api_id and create a file called API_KEYS in the source root directory. The contents should look like this:

  APP_ID = 12345 APP_HASH = aaaaaaaabbbbbbccccccfffffff001122 

• Do not use the name Telegram and the standard logo (white paper plane in a blue circle) for your app — or make sure your users understand that it is unofficial
• Take good care of your users' data and privacy
• Please remember to publish your code too in order to comply with the licenses