How to open a Telegram Mini App
TL;DR
- From a link: A link like t.me/voteher_bot?startapp opens the app straight away, sometimes after Telegram asks you to confirm.
- From the chat: In the bot's chat, the button next to the message field opens the app.
- From the profile: The bot's profile has an Open App button.
- If it won't open: Update Telegram, then try the chat button instead of the link.
What a Mini App is
A Mini App is a small app that runs inside Telegram, in a window that slides up over your chats. Nothing is installed from an app store, and it closes like any other Telegram screen.
Because it runs inside Telegram, the app knows which Telegram account opened it. That is how VoteHer can count your vote without a sign-up, as How the VoteHer Top works explains.
From a link
This is the quickest way, and it is how every button on this blog works.
- 1Tap a link that starts with t.me/voteher_bot and contains startapp.
- 2If you are on a computer or a phone browser, let it open the Telegram app.
- 3Telegram may show the app's name and ask you to confirm. Tap Open or Launch.
- 4The app opens on the screen the link points to, such as the Top or a profile.
From the bot's chat or profile
Search for @voteher_bot in Telegram and open the chat. Next to the message field there is a button that opens the app. Tapping Start also sends a welcome message with a button that opens the app.
On the bot's profile page there is an Open App button as well. It does the same thing.
On a computer
Telegram's desktop app opens Mini Apps in a window of their own. If a link opens a Telegram web page in your browser first, use the button on that page to hand it to the desktop app.
When it won't open
Most problems come from an old version of Telegram or a link that lost part of its address.
- 1Update Telegram from the App Store, Google Play or telegram.org.
- 2Open @voteher_bot's chat and use the button next to the message field instead of the link.
- 3If the app opens but stays blank, close it, wait a few seconds and open it again.
- 4Check that the link still contains startapp. A link cut short opens the chat instead of the app.
Questions
Is a Mini App safe to open?
It runs inside Telegram's own window, like a web page. Telegram asks before it shares your account with the app, and VoteHer only stores what its privacy page lists.
Does VoteHer work in a normal browser?
You can look around on voteher.com, but voting, super votes and alerts need Telegram, so those buttons open the app there.
Your vote counts in this week's Top
Open VoteHer in Telegram and give your daily vote. No sign-up: your Telegram account is enough.