Telegram Contests

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.

For this challenge, your submissions will be tested in the following environment:
OS: ubuntu-22.04
Compiler: clang-14
Hardware: AX-42 Hetzner

for “TON Trustless Bridge Challenge”
an archive containing the following:

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.

Note: If you completed both challenges, send your submissions consecutively by choosing either option.

🏆 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.

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.

🏆 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.

🏆 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

✍️ To justly recognize all notable submissions, we will announce the results on January 6th, 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!

🏆 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.

After evaluation, we have decided to split the prize fund in half and increase the total prize pool for Round 2 by an additional $25,000. Stay tuned for updates in Q1 2025.

Meet the winners!

2nd PLACE – $6,500
🥈Classy Whale
🥈Bold Wasp

3rd PLACE – $3,000
🥉 Tall Penguin
🥉 Subtle Cow

We have also decided to award 12 other contestants a bonus of $500 for their contributions, and we hope to see them in the prize-winning spots next time. (More details and check if you are on the list – on contest.com)

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.

🏆 Telegram Android Contest 2024, Round 2

Prize fund: $50,000
Deadline: 23:59 on December 21st (Dubai time)
Who can participate: Everyone, even if you didn't join Round 1
Results: December 2024

Telegram is hosting a contest for Android developers to enhance and upgrade the in-chat camera.

THE TASK

Adapt the existing in-chat camera with the camera for Stories, including all its features:
– Collages;
– Dual Camera Mode;
– Front Camera Flash;
– Widgets (for interactive widgets, i.e., reactions or links, your app may just apply a non-interactive entity over the canvas)...

Your implementation must remove any story-related restrictions or controls. Specifically, your app must not impose a limit on video length and should exclude interface controls that are only relevant for stories. Your app must retain the existing in-chat camera interface and flow before user opens the camera (i.e., the preview within the attachment menu).

Contest Requirements:

General
– Your app must provide a consistent and smooth recording experience that aligns with the device's native camera app.
– No third-party UI frameworks are allowed.
– The submission must be consistent with the existing Telegram for Android codebase.
– The app's stability and performance must not be affected with the changes you made.
– The app must be free of significant flaws (including crashes, visual glitches, noticeable element blinking, layout errors, and more).

❗️Your app must precisely follow the provided design mockups.

Note:
Submissions that introduce improvements to video recording are likely to receive higher scores in this contest.

Evaluation:
During the evaluation stage, we will review your code and test the submission on a wide range of Android devices.

Winners may be offered a chance to join the 🛫 Telegram Team.

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.

🏆 The second round of Android Contest 2024, with a total prize fund of $50,000, will be announced this Friday. The winner may also be offered an opportunity to join the 🛫 Telegram Team.

Everyone is welcome to participate, even if they didn't join Round 1.

🏆 Telegram Android Contest 2024, Round 1: Results

We were pleased to see many veterans from our previous contests for Android Developers to join us in this round together with several newcomers! We hope this was a fun yet challenging experience for all of you.

In this contest, developers were required to implement several features into the Android app under a tight deadline. While evaluating submissions, we primarily assessed how well each app delivered two core features for this contest: the Quick Share feature in channels and Chromecast support.

Meet the winners!

1st PLACE – $8,000
🥇 Dreamy Crab

2nd PLACE – $5,000
🥈 Slim Gull
🥈 Hardy Turkey

3rd PLACE – $3,000
🥉 Sunny Ant
🥉 Huge Fox
🥉 Fairy Zebra
🥉 Mighty Rabbit
🥉 Holy Shark

4th PLACE – $1,500
🎖 Fit Falcon
🎖 Young Beetle
🎖 Large Kangaroo
🎖 Hairy Frog
🎖 Groovy Rhino
🎖 Slim Scorpion
🎖 Huge Falcon
🎖 Fit Rhino

As an exception and a final warning, we have waived the rebuilding penalty this time considering we have several newcomers. Stricter guidelines and more severe penalties will be introduced for future competitions.

We have also decided to award 10 other contestants a bonus of $500 for their contributions, and we hope to see them in the prize-winning spots next time. (More details and check if you are on the list – on contest.com)

That's all for today! More contests are on the way. Have a nice Sunday!

🏆 October Contests Update

Dear Contestants,

Here is the results schedule for the recent contests we held:

Design Competition, Round 2: Next Week

🆕 iOS Contest 2024
🔤🔤🔤🔤🔤🔤🔤
(A significant portion of the submitted apps cannot be built as intended and require direct involvement from our side in order to properly assess each contribution. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding. Each of such entries will be disqualified.)

Android Contest, Round 1: Today

ContestBot is now ready to accept submissions for the Telegram iOS Contest 2024.

New deadline: 23:59 on October 27th (Dubai time)

Start the bot, choose “Telegram iOS Contest 2024”, answer the bot’s questions, then send:
- A link to the commit on a public GitHub repository, cloned from the Telegram-iOS repository.

Note: Your repository may stay private until the deadline. Make sure your code is consistent with the reproducible builds process – we will build each app automatically. Entries failing to do so, will receive a relevant penalty.