Questions and answers
What people ask before they install FinchGram. Something else? Write to support@finchgram.com or ask on GitHub.
Is FinchGram made by Telegram?
No. FinchGram is an unofficial client, made by nobody at Telegram. It talks to Telegram through TDLib, Telegram's own library, and keeps to the Telegram API terms: it behaves as Telegram's own apps do and does nothing they forbid.
Open source, and Telegram's rulesIs it safe to use?
The source is public under the GPL-3.0. Every release is built by GitHub Actions from pinned sources, signed with a Developer ID, notarized by Apple, and checked against its SHA256SUMS and Ed25519 signature before the app installs it. Nothing leaves your Mac except to Telegram, to GitHub for updates, and to the servers you add yourself; there is no FinchGram server, and nothing is collected.
What FinchGram does with your datamacOS says the app cannot be opened
Releases since v0.4.17 are signed and notarized, so a fresh download opens like any other app. A copy from before that still asks once: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway. Or download the latest release.
The latest releaseDo I need a Telegram account?
For chats, yes: log in with your phone number or a QR code, or sign up from the login page. The Downloads page works before you log in, with no Telegram account at all.
How is it different from Telegram's own apps?
The same account, chats and messages, in a window made for a keyboard and a right click: chats in tabs, a screenshot tool with markup, your NAS on a Downloads page over WebDAV, AI assistants through the Model Context Protocol, three themes, eleven languages. Some things are not there yet: secret chats, voice messages, polls and scheduled messages are on the roadmap.
Every featureDoes it run on an Intel Mac?
No. FinchGram is built for Apple silicon, on macOS 12 or newer. Windows and Linux come later.
The roadmapHow do I connect a Synology or QNAP NAS?
Turn WebDAV on at the NAS (Synology: the WebDAV Server package, https on port 5006; QNAP: Web Server in the Control Panel). Then open FinchGram's Downloads page and add a server with that address, your user name and your password; the password goes into FinchGram's encrypted database. Beyond your own network, use https.
How Downloads worksWhat can an AI assistant see?
Nothing until you turn AI access on in Settings. Then only the chats you choose, never secret chats or self-destructing media; reading marks nothing as read; what it may write is your choice, and each app asks you the first time it connects. FinchGram itself calls no AI and never uses Telegram data to train AI models.
The MCP toolsWhat does it cost?
Nothing. FinchGram is free software under the GPL-3.0, and its source is on GitHub.
How does it update?
By itself: once a day, at a random time, it asks GitHub Releases for a newer version and installs it after checking the SHA256SUMS and the Ed25519 signature. Help → Check for Updates asks at once; turn off “Check for updates automatically” in Settings to stop it.
What changed, release by release