Telegram Mini Apps are lightweight in-app tools that enhance functionality, streamline interactions, and open up new possibilities within the Telegram ecosystem.

Do you remember when everyone suddenly started creating their own Telegram channels? It wasn’t long ago that the shift towards Telegram began, especially with the growing concerns over privacy and the desire for a more secure communication platform.

Many businesses have also transitioned to Telegram, taking advantage of its robust features. Notably, Telegram usage has been growing steadily in the USA over the past four years, making it an increasingly important platform.

And it’s a smart move: apart from its unique offerings like targeted ads, channel stories, and recommendations, Telegram boasts highly useful chatbots. These chatbots have evolved into applications known as Telegram Mini Apps. You might have heard of them or even used them. While many still think of Telegram primarily as a platform for chatbots, there’s a more innovative, convenient, and visually appealing solution for your projects with Telegram Mini Apps.

In this article, we’ll explore how Telegram Mini Apps differ from regular websites, why and how you should create them, how they can benefit your business, and the most exciting part: how to seamlessly integrate your project with blockchain technology.

What is a Web App?

Before we dive into Telegram applications, let’s define what a web application is.

In the early days of the internet, websites were simple pages with text and images, like pages in a book. They were static and couldn’t interact with the user. Over time, technology advanced, and dynamic sites emerged, changing content based on user actions.

The main difference between web applications and simple websites is that web applications allow users to perform various actions, such as creating accounts, sending messages, and working with documents. This became possible thanks to technologies like client-side data processing, JavaScript, AJAX, and various frameworks.

The boundary between simple websites and web applications can be drawn based on the level of interactivity and functionality. Simple websites inform, while web applications allow tasks to be performed, making interaction more complex and rich.

Web applications consist of two main parts: the backend and the frontend.

The backend runs on a remote computer, which can be located anywhere. If an application is created only with a backend, any transitions, form submissions, or data updates will generate a new HTML file by the server, causing the browser page to reload.

The frontend, or the client side of the application, runs in the browser. An application can consist solely of a client part if there’s no need to store user data beyond one session. Examples include photo editors or simple games.

Single Page Application

Now we come to Single Page Applications (SPA). A more interesting option is when both the backend and the frontend are used. Such an application works without page reloads in the browser. Or in a simplified version, where transitions between sections cause reloads, but any actions within the section do not.

We won’t turn this article into a programming lesson, so let’s stop here for now. This information is enough to understand Telegram Mini Apps.

What are TMAs?

So what are Telegram Mini Apps? Simply put, they are web applications in Telegram. They look like regular websites or applications but work within the messenger’s interface and logic.

Hence the important distinction of Telegram Mini Apps: they open and operate through web bots. So, TMA is both a Telegram bot and a web application.

Creating a TMA

Let’s say you need to create a TMA for delivery. You connect to BotFather, the main bot that allows you to create and configure new bots in Telegram.

After that, you create and write a web application, plan sections, upload images, and create an interface. Then, using BotFather, you link your web application to your bot.

If you want to create a full-fledged interface, you’ll need to study API methods and commands. Based on the API, you can add options to the web bot, such as promo codes, pushes, order history, newsletters, adding products, and changing order statuses. The scope for implementation is vast.

One of the main advantages is that Telegram Mini Apps are cross-platform. Since Telegram is available on all platforms, the applications within it are accessible on Android, iOS, PCs with Mac and Linux without needing additional installations or downloads.

Telegram has its own Apps Center, a catalog of all applications in the messenger. It includes chatbots, wallets, and various games. There’s something for everyone to enjoy while riding the metro.

🔗 https://docs.ton.org/develop/dapps/telegram-apps/ 

Advantages

Telegram Mini Apps are a great opportunity to go beyond regular bots and web applications and try to create a more interesting solution.

Another advantage is expanding your client base without spending much on development.

Creating an application is free. You don’t need to pay for hosting in Telegram or buy a domain if you make your project directly in the messenger. If you’re embedding your existing application into Telegram, you still need to bear the costs of maintaining a regular web application. But whether you need this is up to you.

Moreover, a mini app is easy to use and maintain. If desired, you can manage your application through the bot. This naturally reduces costs.

Everything can be automated as well. Using bot constructors, you can create a chain to control and process everything. TMA is easy to set up to manage processes without a separate mobile app.

If you do business in a country with strict internet policies, telegram saves you from being blocked. You can use and create TMAs without a VPN, making life easier for both you and your users.

Developing a TMA is relatively inexpensive and takes from two weeks to a month. You can break even within 1-3 months, depending on the volume and quality of traffic.

So, mini apps are a logical continuation of transforming from a chatbot to a new promotion tool and quick interaction with clients.

Oh yes, more than 20 payment methods, including Google Pay, Apple Pay, and crypto, can be connected to TMA.

Integration with TON blockchain

Speaking of crypto, TMA for web3, blockchain, and all that is just a great solution. The TON infrastructure is fully ready, and there are already products that called for a convenient mobile application. For example, decentralized exchanges or marketplaces are very hard to pay at with a mobile version of a crypto wallet. Using two apps at the same time, copy-pasting and double checking 32-character hex wallet addresses is hardly a smooth user experience. It’s so more convenient to do everything through the Telegram interface.

We detailed TON in this article. Be sure to read it; there’s a lot of useful information, especially if you plan to launch a mini app with web3 integration.

So, how does the integration of Telegram applications and web3 happen?

As we mentioned earlier, Telegram mini apps are essentially the same as regular web apps, but working right in the messenger.

To launch your web3 project in Telegram, first, you need to create a web3 application and go through all stages of development. Think through tokenomics, write smart contracts, launch your token or take an existing one, and develop your application. It is important that your token must be on the TON blockchain, as well as all the smart contracts. So, as we mentioned in our article about this blockchain, Solidity developers won’t help; you’ll need to code in FunC and Tact.

Next, you need to connect and integrate a wallet. Telegram Wallet (@WALLET) is not mandatory for all payments and transactions related to TON. 

Developers can integrate any wallets that support TON or use their own wallets or smart contracts to conduct transactions. Because any payments, transfers, staking, in general, any transactions will go through it. 

By the way, the Telegram wallet is an example of a Telegram Mini App for web3.

App Example: Booking Service

Here’s an idea: a booking service.There are people in some countries who do not have access to Visa and Mastercard payment systems. You can help them book hotels abroad.  Implementing something like a simple copy of booking.com in Telegram is quite realistic. All you have to do is accept funds through the telegram wallet and transfer it to hotels, minus your commission.

When the user needs to rent accommodation, they open Telegram and pay for the hotel with crypto from Ton.

Development Tools

Since your web3 application should be on TON, you should use TON SDK and TON Connect. These tools will help you create a very user-friendly application.

TON SDK (The Open Network Software Development Kit) provides a set of tools for interacting with the TON blockchain. Developers can create, test, and deploy smart contracts, as well as integrate blockchain functions into their applications.

Ton Connect is a protocol that simplifies the process of connecting Telegram mini apps to the TON blockchain and other web3 services. It allows users to securely and conveniently authenticate and interact with decentralized applications directly within Telegram. This is a very useful open-source tool for authorizing your mini app via the TON wallet instead of a username and password.

Steps to Launch Your Web3 Application

• Create your application on the TON blockchain using the TON SDK.
• Connect it to the Telegram wallet via TON Connect. Currently, any web and mobile applications on React are supported.
• Design a user-friendly interface for your application.
• Link everything with the bot through BotFather to launch your application in the messenger.
• You can publish your application in the Telegram Apps Center. You can also check out your competitors there.

And that’s it, your mini app is ready. It won’t be geo-blocked, has a huge potential user base, and transactions are faster than most web3 applications, which are usually created on Ethereum.

There are already hundreds and thousands Telegram mini apps on the blockchain.

For example, Tonstarter Assistant. This is a launchpad on TON where companies raise funds for blockchain projects. They have a full version and a mobile version in Telegram for convenience. Through their bot, you can place projects and raise money for implementation, as well as participate in token sales and ICOs.

Or there’s Evaa Protocol App. Evaa Protocol is the first lending protocol on TON. Through it, you can borrow cryptocurrencies and lend coins without leaving the messenger, all based on smart contracts.

Prospects

Does it have a future? Definitely. Telegram, aside from being a convenient messenger, has also proven to be an excellent platform for business. While it’s hard to say what exactly Telegram will introduce, we can predict trends.

Firstly, it seems there will be closer integration with TON. TON already has a grant program for web3 applications in Telegram, which will naturally spur new projects to develop. Recently, TON announced that they want to create their own super app in Telegram to unify all applications in one. It looks like Telegram will become a universal platform for everything in the near future.

Secondly, crypto games are increasingly appearing in Telegram. Yes, we shouldn’t expect a AAA game to work through a bot. But simple farms, Tamagotchis, and other time-killers are quite feasible.

Thirdly, the further development of DeFi. Many major crypto exchanges like KuCoin and Huobi could very well emerge in Telegram. Even without them, decentralized exchanges, lending, and liquidity pools already exist in Telegram, and there’s an audience for this. So, there’s no reason for new projects not to appear as mini apps.

Conclusion

As we can see, Telegram provides the opportunity to fully create a project, develop it, and even a website for your company isn’t necessary if you have a mini app in Telegram. This opens new horizons for business.

Mini Apps are an extremely convenient tool for creating your project. They simplify and speed up customer interaction and reduce your development and support costs.

Yes, there are certain peculiarities. Yes, you’ll be within a simplified mobile application framework. But if done wisely and beautifully, it will definitely be beneficial. It’s a great opportunity to try creating your first project, which can later be developed into something bigger.