The concept of "recognition" is relative. I've interacted with prominent developers and Telegram insiders, and I've received positive feedback from people I consider important in the industry. However, I've never received direct public recognition from Telegram.
I've actively contributed to several PR , some of which were actually merged after private discussions with the developers. In general, however, Telegram isn't a platform that gives formal recognition, not even to figures like Evgeny Nadymov, the creator of Telegram's first web implementations.
Personally, I don't give it too much weight, you work and contribute because it's useful to the project, without expecting official recognition.
7⃣ Let's get a little more personal now. Besides this account, have you had any others in the past? If so, what happened to them?
Yes, I had another account in the past, but unfortunately I lost it due to my own mistake. I forgot to update my phone number and took an action that resulted in a temporary soft ban. After that, I was unable to log in again because I no longer had access to the associated number.
Fortunately, Telegram now offers solutions like passkey access, which makes it much easier to avoid similar problems.
8⃣ Besides being a Telegram user, do you work in tech outside of social media, or is your nature completely different?
I'd say I'm a multicultural and multifaceted person. I've worked in various fields: UX design, Android development, marketing design, and I have experience as a freelance software engineer. I also occasionally open illustration commissions on my Twitter page, but it's not a regular activity.
I'd say I'm not strictly technical by nature; I'm also very interested in the humanities, so I always try to combine creative and technological skills in my projects.
9⃣ Is there anything you absolutely can't stand about Telegram? Both on the technical and front-end fronts, let's say, whether it's the much-discussed gifts since their release, the lack of customization for bots, or the graphical direction Tandorid is taking, which is heavily oriented toward iOS...
Yes, there are some things I struggle to appreciate about Telegram today, both technically and organizationally. Over the years, the platform's philosophy has changed, or at least the perception many developers had of it.
From an administrative standpoint, joining the development team is quite complex: very specific skills are required, including knowledge of the Russian language, as Pavel Durov prefers to communicate directly with the team in a natural way. This choice is consistent with his vision, but it makes entry difficult for many international developers.
Visually, Telegram Android isn't necessarily ugly, but the direction it's taken is heavily inspired by iOS. Personally, I would have preferred a style closer to Material 3 Expressive, but it should be noted that this isn't a news: Telegram has always followed the iOS aesthetic on Android. Durov has repeatedly demonstrated his appreciation for iOS design, even though he doesn't share its ecosystem, so in this respect he's been consistent over time.
From a technical and backend perspective, one of the most frustrating aspects is the strong tendency to maintain legacy components. A concrete example is group calls, which use a very old version of WebRTC, causing instability and frequent crashes. I had previously reported this issue, and the Google team also confirmed that the cause was related to custom thread management implementations, which were later superseded by the adoption of more modern standards like C++17.
In summary, Telegram remains a powerful platform, but some technical and organizational choices make it more difficult for developers to contribute effectively.