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Here we announce Telegram coding contests in Android Java, iOS Swift, JS, C/C++. Discussion: @contests
Kind reminder for all participants in the Android Contest:
Please make sure to prepare everything in advance and avoid postponing your submission until the very last moment.
🏆 Contest for Content Creators: Results
The first-ever contest for content creators turned out to be a great success.
The submission count speaks for itself – we received 461 entries. After filtering out incomplete and empty submissions, we grabbed some popcorn and dove deep into the colorful kaleidoscope of hundreds of videos you created.
We’d like to thank each and every one of you – for your dedication, time, and boundless creativity. What you did was much more than simply taking part in Telegram’s competition – it was about telling the world the truth. The truth about who truly paves the way of digital innovation.
Since all of your creations are truly unique, we abstained from traditional prize places this time. Instead, we’ve defined several categories, and each video within a category below will receive a winner’s fee of $2,000.
Meet the winners!
🎨 ANIMATION
Holy Hamster – Channel | Told a fairytale about Messengerland.
Suave Kangaroo – Channel | Showed which cat is falling behind.
Noble Leopard – Channel | Made it clear: jealousy comes in green.
Caring Fox – Channel | Animated both apps in an unexpected way.
Swift Mule – Channel | Drew a spy-themed pixel cartoon.
Kooky Jackal – Channel | Deleted WA from their phone.
Hairy Whale – Channel | Made great use of a trending meme.
Fancy Jackal – Channel | Showed us the WA user's POV.
📹 CINEMATIC
Big Whale – Channel | Reminded us of classic ads – as if the company were a person.
Sexy Puffin – Channel | Documented the development of messaging civilization.
Tall Sloth – Channel | Imagined what a WA office might look like.
Merry Horse – Channel | Showed what a trivia competiton between messengers could look like.
Humble Peacock – Channel | Showcased city crime stories.
Tactful Antelope – Channel | Made us rewatch Matrix.
Sacred Gecko – Channel | Yet another twist on personification.
Small Goat – Channel | Delivered a slick ad.
Holy Skunk – Channel | Revealed a conversation between two messengers.
📱 MOTION
Quiet Squirrel – Channel | Delivered a sleek one-to-one comparison.
Nimble Tiger – Channel | Presented us who is the source.
Sexy Kiwi – Channel | Derived a formula: innovate – not just update.
Lucky Llama – Channel | Spun up a carousel of features.
Clever Kangaroo – Channel | Outlined a minimalist feature timeline.
Jolly Gnat – Channel | Explained why converting people isn’t always easy.
Stylish Peacock – Channel | Showed the clash between prehistoric tribes and alien technologies.
Sleek Gull – Channel | Told us who is the real innovator.
Tall Dragon – Channel | Left us speechless.
🤖 FIELD
Cute Cobra – Channel | Shared a story of two trains.
Agile Sheep – Channel | Portrayed WA R&D department’s daily routine in an utterly surreal way.
Small Wombat – Channel | Leaned into the trending brainrot meme aesthetic.
Quick Gecko – Channel | Sang a song.
Smart Bat – Channel | Revealed which place serves fresh food – and which one doesn’t.
Kind Spider – Channel | Uncovered the untold side of confession.
🎟 MOVIES
Sexy Beetle – Channel | Proved nothing beats a good old western.
Wise Bee – Channel | Eliminated Skynet’s servant.
If you do not see your entry among the winners – do not get upset. The competition was tough and intense, and you will definitely make it next time!
🏆 Contest for Content Creators: Update
We’ve completed our evaluation and decided to further expand the list of nominees to include even more notable submissions.
The final results will be announced by July 10.
In the meantime, feel free to explore other submissions.
🏆 Telegram Android Contest 2025, Round 1
Prize fund: $50,000
Deadline: 23:59 on July 11 (Dubai time)
Who can participate: Everyone
Results: July 2025
Telegram is hosting a contest for Android developers to implement a redesigned profile appearance.
In addition to prize money, the winner of this contest may join the 🛫 Telegram Team in Dubai and earn $1 million per year after taxes by year 3.
THE TASK
Rework the existing profile screens by implementing the new design flow in strict accordance with the mockups provided below:
– Profiles of users, businesses, groups, and channels must be covered, including groups with topics enabled.
– Support for both day and night themes is mandatory.
– All related tabs and profile instances must be supported, including those where gifts are displayed.
💡 For this task, we recommend building the relevant screens from scratch. However, reusing existing code components is acceptable.
❗️The implementation must precisely follow the provided design mockups, including all transitions shown in the animated demos.
📣 We are launching a series of new contests for Android developers in the coming days.
📱 The winner will get a chance to join the Telegram Team.
💸 Developers at Telegram can earn up to $1,000,000 per year before taxes.
ContestBot is now ready to accept submissions for the Contest for Content Creators.
Start the bot, choose “Contest for Content Creators”, answer the bot’s questions, then send:
– A link to either a private or public channel where your video is uploaded. Your video may include an optional description and any additional details in its caption.
– An archive containing your video in its original resolution. You may also include source files if the video was created using specialized software.
You can submit your work until 23:59 Dubai time on May 27 – we’re giving you an extra 24 hours to properly prepare your submission. Please note that late submissions will not be accepted.
@ContestBot is now ready to accept submissions for the JavaScript Contest, Round 2.
New deadline: 23:59 on April 27 (Dubai time)
Build the application, then prepare:
- A ZIP-archive with the following structure:
-> dist - folder with the build.
-> src - folder with the app's source code.
-> contest.md – a text file that briefly describes the approach used for each task.
- A link to the commit on a public GitHub repository, forked from the Telegram Web A repository.
🏆 Telegram Contest for JavaScript Developers, Round 1: Results
After many hours of testing and deliberation, we are now ready to announce the results!
Reworking a text editor – essentially a core component of a messaging app – posed numerous challenges due to the wide range of formatting options and other entities, such as custom emoji.
None of the contestants were able to secure first place, yet we have increased the prize fund for Round 1 by more than 13% to fairly recognize the efforts of the participants.
The judges unanimously agreed to move forward with a second round – which begins immediately.
This time, only the winners of Round 1 will be eligible to participate. More details – in the post below.
And now – meet the winners!
2nd PLACE – $3,000
🥈 Huge Cobra
🥈 Hip Hyena
🥈 Cuddly Lion
🥈 Posh Ram
🥈 Small Fly
🥈 Nice Elk
3rd PLACE – $2,000
🥉 Smart Mantis
🥉 Kooky Cow
🥉 Dark Squid
🥉 Fierce Bull
4th PLACE – $1,000
🎖 Ace Squid
🎖 Slim Piranha
🎖 Fit Shark
🎖 Desert Falcon
🎖 Fluffy Yak
🎖 Tactful Whale
🎖 Small Dragon
🎖 Shiny Cat
We will publish a detailed list of issues for each submission within the next 72 hours on contest.com.
We are attaching a breakdown of the Final Results for each submission.
1. Final Results:
Initially, for preliminary testing published on contest.com, we ran each test in a separate process. This allowed us to fully evaluate even solutions that crashed or hung on specific tests. However, this method disrupted many participants' performance optimizations and introduced substantial noise into the results.
Therefore, for the final evaluation, we executed all tests in a single process using a grader closely resembling the provided contest-grader.cpp. Consequently, solutions that crashed or hung on any test received a final score of 0.
2. Post-Contest Corrections:
After announcing preliminary results, several participants submitted bug fixes via comments on contest.com. Although we typically do not accept post-contest corrections, one corrected solution turned out to be significantly faster than any solution submitted during the contest. As an exception, we decided to evaluate all corrected submissions and include them in the final standings. To maintain fairness, these late submissions incurred a 20% penalty on the prize amounts awarded.
💎 Blockchain Contest: Results (PART I)
We are happy to announce the results of TON Trustless Bridge Challenge!
1st PLACE
🥇 Daring Yak – $15,000
🥇 Fluffy Lemur – $11,000
🥇 Subtle Swallow – $11,000
🥇 Shiny Giraffe – $9,500
🥇 Calm Turkey – $9,000
🥇 Keen Fox – $7,500
2nd PLACE
🥈 Regal Scorpion – $5,000
🥈 Small Shrimp – $4,000
🥈 Cool Kangaroo – $3,000
🥈 Mad Otter – $2,500
🥈 Merry Gnu – $2,500
🥈 Tall Llama – $2,500
3rd PLACE
🥈 Cute Giraffe – $2,000
🥈 Holy Lynx – $2,000
🥈 Swift Flamingo – $1,500
🥈 Slim Elk – $1,000
🥈 Kind Horse – $1,000
4th PLACE
🎖️ Fairy Zebra – $500
🎖️ Earnest Wasp – $300
🎖️ Grim Hawk – $300
🎖️ Sacred Hare – $300
We appreciate your patience as we finalize the results for the Block Validation Challenge, which are coming later this week. Thank you for your understanding.
Congratulations to the winners, and happy Monday to you all!
💎 Blockchain Contest, Round 1 Update
The judges have completed their evaluation. For details, kindly refer to the issues for each submission.
• Block Validation Challenge
Final tests
• Trustless Bridge Challenge
Assessment criteria
The final results will be announced on Monday.
🏆 Telegram Contest for JavaScript Developers, Round 1
Prize fund: $30,000
Deadline: 23:59 on February 21 (Dubai time)
Who can participate: Everyone
Results: March 2025
Telegram is hosting a contest for JavaScript developers to implement a new feature in Telegram Web A and enhance the existing part of the app.
THE TASK
1. Rework the existing text editor from scratch and eliminate its imperfections:
– Ensure proper support for edit history (Ctrl+Z / Cmd+Z doesn’t work as intended as of now).
– Add support for editing quotes.
– Add support for Markdown syntax.
– Currently, RegExp is used for parsing Markdown, which sometimes causes glitches. Implement an AST-based approach to support all Telegram formatting entities more reliably.
2. Introduce the new Chat Folders appearance based on the provided mockups.
___
Contest Requirements:
– No third-party frameworks and libraries are allowed.
– The changes you introduce must not affect the app’s performance or stability.
– The submission must be consistent with the existing Web A codebase.
– Your implementation must work flawlessly on mobile and desktop Chrome (across Linux, macOS, Windows) and Safari on iOS and macOS.
❗Your app must precisely follow the provided design mockups.
Bonus Task:
Add support for animated chat backgrounds as in other Telegram apps. For reference, check Telegram Web K or this.
Submissions:
Contestants will be able to submit their entries to @ContestBot at a later date. We will further clarify the submission instructions closer to the deadline.
P.S. Winners may be offered a chance to explore further opportunities with Telegram.
🏆 A new contest for JS developers with a total prize fund of $30,000 will be announced this Friday. The winner may be offered a chance to explore further cooperation opportunities with 🛫 Telegram.
Читать полностью…
🏆 Telegram Android Contest 2024, Round 2: Results
In this Round, the contestants were invited to upgrade the interface of the existing in-chat camera and enhance it with the features from the Stories.
The judges greatly enjoyed the testing stage, taking thousands of photos, recording countless videos, and making more collages than they ever had before (and likely never would again). We would like to thank everyone for their contribution!
The core criteria we initially applied during evaluation was app performance. Each submission was tested on a high-performance device to ensure that the changes introduced by the contestants did not compromise the app's smoothness. This particular aspect proved to be quite challenging for the majority of contestants.
The rest we evaluated was the amount and quality of the features implemented, as specified in the contest task.
Please meet the winners!
1st PLACE – $7,000
🥇Earnest Pug
2nd PLACE – $4,500
🥈Dreamy Crab
🥈Holy Shark
🥈Huge Fox
3rd PLACE – $2,500
🥉Slim Gull
🥉Earnest Wasp
🥉Daring Whale
🥉Fairy Zebra
🥉Mighty Rabbit
🥉Huge Falcon
🥉Hardy Turkey
🥉Fit Rhino
4th PLACE – $1,500
🎖Grim Mule
🎖Mighty Fly
🎖Fierce Bull
🎖Young Beetle
🎖Fit Shark
🎖Sleek Ladybird
🎖Keen Ant
🏆 Telegram iOS Contest 2024: Results
We appreciate your patience as we evaluated the results of this contest. The complex task and the initial requirements we outlined proved to be challenging to the majority of contestants.
Out of a total of 23 entries, 7 were disqualified for introducing changes that broke the application build process.
After confirming that the remaining apps could be built and included the features outlined in the contest task, we proceeded to the testing stage.
After many hours of testing and cross-checking the submissions, we discovered that only 4 out of the remaining 16 apps were able to play the HLS streams. Unfortunately, the approach used in these apps is far from optimal and, as a result, cannot be used.
Since we were also working on the same task under the release cycle with an even tighter deadline, here’s the approach currently used in the iOS app:
We use bridging to connect the JavaScript implementation of HLS and the native code. For rendering, we created a player compatible with Media Source Extensions.
There is one more thing.
Although the winner list cannot be stretched further, we’ve decided to increase the prize fund anyway and award even more submissions with bonuses – each contestant in the list below will receive a bonus of $300. We strongly advise you to keep these bonuses – they may be of a great use for R2.
Large Squirrel – Channel
Hairy Gnat – Channel
Able Spider – Channel
Classy Lion – Channel
Clever Cobra – Channel
Happy Fox – Channel
Giant Dolphin – Channel
Brave Zebra – Channel
Sleek Lynx – Channel
Stout Kangaroo – Channel
Fair Gnat – Channel
Merry Spider – Channel
Eager Unicorn – Channel
Nice Jackal – Channel
Mighty Kitten – Channel
Agile Goose – Channel
Quiet Owl – Channel
Tall Shark – Channel
Magic Starfish – Channel
Happy Jackal – Channel
Bossy Hyena – Channel
Cuddly Eagle – Channel
Mindful Lion – Channel
Busy Phoenix – Channel
Bright Bull – Channel
Witty Crab – Channel
Mad Camel – Channel
Magic Panda – Channel
Sacred Lion – Channel
Little Raven – Channel
Sharp Wombat – Channel
Sexy Hedgehog – Channel
Cuddly Lemur – Channel
Kind Owl – Channel
Gentle Croc – Channel
Sunny Jaguar – Channel
Bright Scorpion – Channel
Smart Crab – Channel
Sunny Hamster – Channel
Humble Mantis – Channel
Tidy Dolphin – Channel
Noble Hamster – Channel
Ace Crow – Channel
Dashing Tapir – Channel
Night Meerkat – Channel
Rich Kangaroo – Channel
Congratulations to the winners and have a nice Friday ahead!
ContestBot is now ready to accept submissions for the Android Contest 2025, Round 1.
⚠️ Deadline reminder: July 11, 23:59 (Dubai time). Late submissions will not be accepted.
Start the bot, choose “Android Contest 2025 R1”, answer the bot’s questions, then send:
- An .apk file (release build). Make sure your code uses your own api and package ID, and that login works with the production server in the submitted build.
- A link to the commit on a public GitHub repository, forked from the Telegram-Android repository.
Note: Your repository may stay private until the deadline. Entries that are not using their own package id will be penalized.
We are pleased to issue the following clarifications regarding the Android Contest.
Q: Do I need to build these screens as a standalone project?
A: You must implement the new screens directly into the Telegram for Android app, fully preserving all existing profile features. To sum up – the new design flow must replace the current one.
Q: How will I submit my work and what will I need to provide?
A: You’ll need to submit both: an .APK file, and a link to your GitHub repository. For reference, here are the submission guidelines from one of our previous Android contests.
Q: Can we get the source files for the design mockups and animated demo?
A: Please use the files that have already been provided.
Q: Can I use X, Y, Z?
A: You must use Java without any third-party UI frameworks – and you should avoid introducing new dependencies into the project. To sum up – any changes you make must remain consistent with the existing codebase.
Q: What are the floating icons that get hidden when a profile is collapsed?
A: These icons come from either the custom profile appearance or from an active gift. For reference, check out @durov.
Q: Can we further utilize the camera cutout position on certain devices?
A: Absolutely.
Q: Do I really need to build the profiles from scratch?
A: We do not impose any restrictions on whether you should build it from scratch or not – focus on the outcome from the user’s perspective. What matters most is the quality and polish of the final result. That said, a from-scratch approach would be more beneficial in the context of eliminating legacy bugs.
Q: Can we have mockups for the Settings screen?
A: Feel free to implement this screen as you see fit. We consider this as a bonus task.
Q: Which link should we send in 'Profile Default 3.png'?
A: If the other party has incoming calls restricted, send them a link via 'Calls' → 'Create Call Link'.
Q: The icons provided earlier have a solid background.
A: We apologize for the inconvenience. We are attaching below the updated icons.
🏆 Telegram Android Contest 2025, Round 1
The contest begins on Friday, June 20. We will post the Task details along with the design mockups.
Make sure to keep notifications enabled so you don’t miss the announcement.
🏆 Telegram Contest for JavaScript Developers, Round 2: Results
We were pleased to find out that 11 out of 18 winners of Round 1 decided to continue the competition and joined the next stage of the JavaScript Contest.
This time, the contestants took on the challenge of both implementing the beautifully redesigned panel for emoji, stickers, and GIFs, and addressing the issues we outlined in their Round 1 submissions.
We encourage the pursuit of excellence and were glad to see the progress many contestants achieved. Meet the winners!
2nd PLACE – $3,500
🥈 Huge Cobra
🥈 Hip Hyena
🥈 Cuddly Lion
3rd PLACE – $2,500
🥉 Nice Elk
🥉 Tactful Whale
🥉 Dark Squid
4th PLACE – $1,500
🎖 Ace Squid
🎖 Slim Piranha
🎖 Kooky Cow
🎖 Small Fly
Meanwhile, Desert Falcon claimed a $1,000 bonus.
Congratulations to all the winners – and Happy Sunday to everyone!
🏆 Contest for Content Creators
Prize fund: Up to $50,000
Deadline: 23:59 Dubai time @ May 26th, 2025
Who can participate: Everyone
Results: June 2025
📱 Telegram is launching its first-ever contest for content creators.
The Task:
Create a video that highlights the innovation leadership of Telegram over WhatsApp by showcasing how Telegram introduced key features years before WhatsApp copied or adopted them.
Requirements:
– All on-screen text and spoken content must be in English;
– Your video must be no longer than 180 seconds;
– You can get inspired by the materials we’ve provided;
– You may use Al tools as a supplementary aid.
Evaluation Criteria:
Clarity, visual impact, meme potential, and virality. Your video should be well-suited for platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and other short-form vertical formats.
🏆 Telegram Contest for JavaScript Developers, Round 2
Prize fund: $25,000
Deadline: 23:59 on April 23 (Dubai time)
Who can participate: Only winners from Round 1 are eligible
Results: May 2025
THE TASK
1. Address your Round 1 issues. (A list of issues will be provided for each submission within the next 72 hours.)
2. Implement the new ESG panel based on the provided mockups.
___
Contest Requirements:
– No third-party frameworks and libraries are allowed.
– The changes you introduce must not affect the app’s performance or stability.
– The submission must be consistent with the existing Web A codebase.
– Your implementation must work flawlessly on mobile and desktop Chrome (across Linux, macOS, Windows) and Safari on iOS and macOS.
❗Your app must precisely follow the provided design mockups.
Submissions:
Contestants will be able to submit their entries to @ContestBot at a later date. We will further clarify the submission instructions closer to the deadline.
P.S. Winners may be offered a chance to explore further opportunities with Telegram.
🏆 Telegram Contest for JavaScript Developers, Round 1: Update
The judges have completed the evaluation of all submissions.
The Main Task – reworking the text editor – proved to be quite challenging for the majority of contestants.
We’ve decided to expand the scope of this contest. Final scoring is currently underway, and we will announce the results on April 8, 2025, along with the details for Round 2.
💎 Blockchain Contest: Results (PART II)
We are now ready to announce the results of the TON Block Validation Challenge!
A couple of entries among the winners were penalized because they failed some of the tests and had to refine their solutions based on the issues identified by the judges.
1st PLACE
🥇 Classy Sloth – $13,600; penalties:
– tests partial failure (–$3,400)
🥇 Magic Gopher – $13,000
🥇 Rich Leopard – $10,000
🥇 Large Panda – $8,000; penalties:
– tests partial failure (–$2,000)
2nd PLACE
🥈 Sweet Yak – $6,000
🥈 Shiny Giraffe – $6,000
🥈 Mindful Kitten – $5,000
🥈 Giant Hare – $5,000
🥈 Huge Dolphin – $4,000
🥈 Fairy Shark – $4,000
3rd PLACE
🥉 Fair Horse – $3,000
🥉 Eager Turtle – $3,000
🥉 Sleek Pony – $2,000
🥉 Posh Turkey – $2,000
🥉 Neat Horse – $2,000
🥉 Daring Yak – $2,000
4th PLACE
🎖 Desert Eagle – $1,000
🎖 Nimble Gopher – $1,000
🎖 Tactful Hare – $1,000
🎖 Gifted Ram – $1,000
🎖 Grim Antelope – $1,000
🎖 Savvy Pug – $1,000
Congratulations to the winners!
@ContestBot is now ready to accept submissions for the JavaScript Contest, Round 1.
New deadline: 23:59 on February 22nd (Dubai time)
We are extending the deadline to give all contestants enough time to properly prepare their submissions. Please prepare your submission at least 2–3 hours before the deadline and avoid uploading until the last moment, as late submissions will not be accepted.
Build the application, then prepare:
- A ZIP-archive with the following structure:
-> dist - folder with the build.
-> src - folder with the app's source code.
-> contest.md – a text file that briefly describes the approach used for each task.
ContestBot is now ready to accept submissions for Blockchain Contest Round 1.
Start the bot, choose either challenge, answer the bot’s questions, then send:
for “TON Block Validation Challenge”
an archive containing the following:
– solution.patch – a patch to the original branch.
– README.md – a description of the implemented optimizations and their effectiveness. If you tried some optimizations that didn't work, kindly provide details regarding them as well.
OS: ubuntu-22.04
Compiler: clang-14
Hardware: AX-42 Hetzner
1. Code of Lite-client smart-contract and script for generation messages for that contract with build instructions.
2. Code of Transaction-checker smart-contract and script for generation messages for that contract with build instructions.
3. Addresses of smart-contracts deployed in Testnet and Fastnet respectively, with the tx_hash of transactions that demonstrate both successful and unsuccessful checks of blocks and transactions.
Dear contestants,
The Fastnet was restarted on January 25th, and the updated global config file is available here. Kindly download it if you haven’t done so yet. We apologize for the inconvenience.
💎 Blockchain Contest, Round 1
Telegram and TON Core announce a new coding contest!
Prize Fund: $100,000 to $200,000
Deadline: 23:59, February 4th (Dubai time)
Tasks: Blockchain Validation (C++ code optimization) and/or Trustless Bridge (participants can choose one or both).
Prize Fund Distribution
The total prize fund, up to $200,000, will be allocated based on each participant’s overall contribution. Winners will also have the opportunity to compete in Stage 2, which will feature a separate, similar prize fund.
Additional Opportunities
Winners have the chance to join the Telegram or TON Core teams, or receive support to launch a real TVM sidechain for TON. The best optimization solutions may also be implemented to enhance the TON main network.
✍️ To justly recognize all notable submissions, we will announce the results on January 2nd, 2025, considering the initially extended deadline for contestants.
🏆 We would like to thank every developer and designer who participated in our competitions in 2024. We hope you gained valuable experience and refined your skills.
✨ We are excited to host more interesting, challenging, and rewarding contests in 2025.
Stay tuned!
ContestBot will begin accepting submissions for the Android Contest 2024, Round 2 later today.
New deadline: 23:59 on December 22nd (Dubai time)
We are extending the deadline to ensure all contestants have enough time to properly adjust both package id and api_id for their apps.
If you are a first-time participant, set aside at least 2-3 hours for this stage and ensure your app can be installed alongside official apps and does not break basic functions like login.
Start the bot later today, choose “Android Contest 2024 R2”, answer the bot’s questions, then send:
- An .apk file (release build). Make sure your code is using your own package id.
- A link to the commit on a public GitHub repository, forked from the Telegram-Android repository.
Note: Your repository may stay private until the deadline. Entries that are not using their own package id will be penalized.