Pigeon for Apple Watch

New Update

- Series 12/Ultra 4 Optimisations
- Checklist message support
- Voice message transcripts (for ⭐️ Telegram Premium users)
- No longer support watchOS 8

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pigeon-for-telegram/id1671939892

🥳 New Update
Pigeon 1.10.0

📞 E2EE Voice Calls: It is now possible to call or receive calls from Pigeon to any other Telegram client! Works even without your paired iPhone around!
(Requires watchOS 9.x and above, not available in China)

Pigeon is the first watchOS Telegram client to achieve this without needing companion iOS apps!

📚 Rich Text Support: New rich text messages in Telegram are now supported in Pigeon! You can now view headings, tables, media, formatted text, math expressions and more, allowing better interactions with your favourite 🤖 AI agents such as OpenClaw or Hermes Agent Bots.
(Some features unavailable in watchOS 8,9)

📰 Instant View: Links that support Telegram Instant View can be viewed directly in app, without needing to open the browser.

Update today!
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pigeon-for-telegram/id1671939892

Pigeon Beta is back!

In this beta, there are 2 new features available for testing:

• Instant View: On some supported websites, you may now view articles in a quick, readable and sleek way.
• Rich Text Messages: The new rich formatted text is now supported in this version of Pigeon. This feature, intended for bots such as those implemented through OpenClaw or Hermes AI agents, is introduced in the latest official Telegram apps. If you haven't experienced it yet, you can try @RichTextDemoBot!

👍What works:
• Headings
• Text formattings (plain, bold, italic, super/subscript, strikethrough, any combo)
• Quotes
• Some links (url, etc)
• Media (Photos, videos, etc)
• Code
• Tables
• Location
• LaTeX Math expression rendering (both inline and block)
• List
• Expandable section
• Streamed messages (e.g. Live text response from AI agent)

🐜Known Bugs:
• The preview for photo collage types (basically an album) may not load
• Not localised yet
• Live message streaming a bit jumpy (although not sure if fixable)

👎Does not work:
• Tables does not render in watchOS 8
• 😭Custom emojis are not supported (may be explored in future)
• Anchor / section links (links that jumps to different sections of the same message)
• Link types that don't yet work in prior versions of Pigeon continues to not work even if present in a rich text message

Note: I've tested the Rich Text features with the latest OpenClaw release - so far it seems some types of content are not sent in the correct Telegram format (e.g. math expressions) so in that case, it will not present correctly in Pigeon.

Get it on TestFlight:
https://testflight.apple.com/join/KM9WSMHa

If you have previously used Pigeon via TestFlight, you do need to re register again with the link above in order to get this particular beta build.
Also note that if you wish to downgrade to the App Store version of Pigeon after using this beta, you may have to reinstall (i.e. delete the beta and install from App Store) or the app may crash.

OS Requirements for this beta remains watchOS 8.4 and above.

New Update
Pigeon 1.9.1

- Users can now delete chats directly in the app
- The Telegram SDK (TDLib) has been updated yet again to the latest version.
- Connectivity improvements
- Minor bug fixes pertaining to folder selection and QR code sharing.
- Machine translated localizations for French, Hindi, Malay and Tamil languages has been added.

Update today!
https://apple.co/3Ed0HD1

New Update
Pigeon 1.9

- The new app menu design is now free for all users.
- Dependencies such as the Telegram SDK (TDLib) and OpenSSL has been updated.
- Self destructing photos can be properly viewed in app now.
- A new option has been added that allows you to skip a step when attempting to record a voice note message.
- Fixed poll support, which was recently broken with a Telegram update.
- Mark as Read feature in notifications has been added.
- Other minor bug fixes.
- Updated localisations.

Update today!
https://apple.co/3Ed0HD1

Note: The 1.9.x version series will be the last to support watchOS 8 and 9. This is to focus developmental efforts on modern watchOS versions.

New Update
Pigeon 1.8.2

- The GIF provider used in Pigeon has been changed to KLIPY. This is because our current GIF provider, Tenor, will shut down in June 2026.
- Fixed a crash that is triggered by specific message text rendering.
- Fixed a bug that causes incorrect displays of messages that belongs to other chats.
- Fixed login flow issue causing user's inability to input authentication code if it was sent to their email.
- Fixed other minor bugs.
- Condensed message box text will now truncate into an icon, if there is not enough space.
- Video Stickers (WebM-based stickers) are now partially supported in Pigeon, allowing you to view these stickers as static image stickers. The first frame of the video sticker will be shown.

Update today!
https://apple.co/3Ed0HD1

3 Years of Pigeon! 🥳

Pigeon was released to the public on this day, three years ago. Thank you for being with me for these 3 wonderful years!

Let's celebrate together, with a free promo code! (Code valid for today)
Applicable to new, existing and ex-subscribers, get a free month of Pigeon+ using the link below:

https://apps.apple.com/redeem?ctx=offercodes&id=1671939892&code=HAPPYPIGEONDAY26

🥂Cheers!

Pigeon 1.8.1

A small update with 2 new features will be released today!

⭐️What’s new:
• FlickType, a popular third-party keyboard, is now supported
• A new settings option has been added for enabling use of Double Tap to compose messages

Update today!
https://apple.co/3Ed0HD1

🎉Pigeon 1.8 Released

What's new: 
- Localisations for the Portuguese language is now available, translated by a fellow Pigeon user!
- Users on watchOS 10.x using the infinite chat list scroll option can use the new menu option for a better experience. (Shown in picture on the left)
- Improvements to notification reply implementation.
- Notifications that are grouped by conversation will show more than one notifications within the set, where possible. (watchOS 10.0+)
- To mitigate the watchOS 26 bug where notification profile picture does not appear, we've added a workaround where the profile picture may instead appear within the expanded notification space, where possible. (watchOS 26.x only)
- Fixed an issue where the Condensed Message Bar may not display correctly on watchOS 10 and 11.
- New Fast Voice Message Decode setting is now available. This decoding mode uses less memory and decodes faster. Note that enabling this disables playback seeking abilities due to technical constraints. (not enabled by default) (watchOS 10.0+)
- The Telegram official library (TDLib) used by Pigeon is updated to the latest version in this release.
- When interacting with bots, the condensed message bar now shows a menu button. (watchOS 10.0+) (shown in picture on the right)
- Improvements has been made to pagination buttons, with expanded hit areas for greater ease of use.
- Supports detection of Apple Watch SE (3rd Generation)
- Other minor bug fixes and optimisations.

Update today! https://apple.co/3Ed0HD1

While the notification grouping and profile picture problems continues on watchOS 26, I've figured out a workaround for the grouping issue by displaying more than 1 recent message of the same group or user together like what's shown in the screenshot.

It will be available on the App Store soon, with the TestFlight updated today.

Black Friday Sale!

Use the link (https://apps.apple.com/redeem/?ctx=offercodes&id=1671939892&code=PIGEONBLACKFRIDAY2025) to get 3 months of Pigeon+ for just USD $0.99 (usual USD $1.99 for 1 month)

Offer will last till 3 December. Existing, prior and new subscribers are all eligible.

(PS: If you tried the link and it works, please let me know. There's always an uncertainty when it comes to offerring a discount for watchOS apps, thank you!)

Browser issue on watchOS 26

I've noticed that the in app browser does not work properly in watchOS 26.

Selecting a link that redirects immediately upon access (e.g. shortened links) will result in a blank browser screen.

There is currently one workaround for websites that support the Reader view.

Workaround:
1. Load page
2. Tap on browser's navigation bar, select "Reader" under View Options
3. Exit and repeat, this time select "Web View"

As I believe this is a watchOS 26 bug, unfortunately there will not be a Pigeon patch for this. Hopefully Apple will fix this soon.

Pigeon 1.7.3

This release introduces Parental Control support for parents that wishes to let their child use Pigeon but with restrictions. (Requires watchOS 10.0+)

This allows certain features such as sending of messages or viewing of websites to be locked behind a passcode.

The update also contains a minor bug fix as bolded text may not render with the correct size in notifications.

Pigeon 1.7.3 is available today, on the App Store.

v1.7.2 is now available on the App Store!

Here's a recap of key new features that the update brings:
- New infinite scroll option lets you scroll through your chats without needing to switch to the next page!
- Fixed bugs for channel admins, which were unable to broadcast channel messages in the previous releases
- Fixed bugs for channel comment threads and topics, where new messages may not arrive
- Keyboard now shows “Send” rather than “Done” after you’ve composed your message
- New rich notification experience brings back ability to tap to open chat in app
- New option allows you to retain the last opened folder
- Apple Maps links will now open in the Maps app
- The telegram official library (TDLib) has been updated yet again!

Update today! https://apple.co/3Ed0HD1

What's coming in Pigeon 1.7.2

I will spend the next few days on further testing before releasing it to the App Store, but I would like to share a bit about what will be added in v1.7.2.

🔄It is updated to the latest TDLib
✈️Keyboard for sending of messages now shows a "Send" button rather than "Done" button.
👉Notifications can now be tapped on to open in app

There will be a new option to automatically open the last used folder, rather than defaulting back to all chats.

There will also be another new option, for infinite chat list scrolling.
What this means is that, if enabled, there will not be any pagination at all for the first time ever since Pigeon’s release.
Instead, you will be able to scroll through the entire chat list, like you would in the official app. (Requires watchOS 9.0+)

These features will be available for watchOS 26 beta users today via build 329, with a full App Store release in the next couple of days once I am confident that the app is ready.

Side note for watchOS 26 users: unfortunately Apple has yet to fix the toolbar issue, so the temporary non-hiding toolbar remains

🔈 New Voice Message Player

Now available in beta builds 311 and 312 (for watchOS 26).

The new player enables you to seek to a specific part of the voice audio, as well as options to playback at rates 0.5x, 1x, 1.5x and 2x. Playback rate changes are also supported in the notification player.

To use the new player, ensure that System > Messages > Behaviours > Audio Playback:System Player is switched off

Note: To test this feature, watchOS 10 and above is required.

Feel free to write in the comment section below if you have any thoughts about this new voice message player!

watchOS 8-11: https://testflight.apple.com/join/nK86VViW
watchOS 26: https://testflight.apple.com/join/mdm7eaCa

For the early birds...

Are you using an Apple Watch with the latest watchOS 26 beta?

If you are, here's a TestFlight for you.

The first beta of watchOS 26 breaks a couple of things in Pigeon:
- Toolbar does not appear
- Profile picture appears much smaller than expected
- Chat list may not be fully visible
- App may crash on voice record attempt
- GIF picker does not work properly

As such, I have made a couple of workarounds for beta users, which includes temporary fixes for the above issues.

Additional changes made:
- Some glass elements have been used to fit the theme better.

Known issues (not fixed yet):
- location map picker panning isn't smooth (unsure of reason thus far)

It's available starting today on TestFlight: https://testflight.apple.com/join/mdm7eaCa

Further updates for watchOS 26 users will also continue on this link.
watchOS 11 and below users should continue to use the other TestFlight link.