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Telegram Amiga alpha 0.0.6 brings file sharing to AmigaOS, MorphOS and AROS

Telegram Amiga alpha 0.0.6 brings file sharing to AmigaOS, MorphOS and AROS

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Telegram Amiga alpha 0.0.6 is now available for AmigaOS 3.x, AmigaOS 4.x, MorphOS, AROS i386 and AROS x86_64. The release changes the project in a practical way: the client can now download received documents, upload files up to 10 MB and use Saved Messages as a transfer drawer between an Amiga, a phone and a PC.

Telegram Amiga remains a native MTProto client written in C, not a web wrapper and not a bot pretending to be an application. Alpha 0.0.6 moves the project from “a client that handles text” to “a client that handles text and small files”, while keeping the honest boundaries of an alpha release.

The real jump: file upload and download

Until 0.0.5, Telegram Amiga was essentially a text-and-GUI client for conversations. Alpha 0.0.6 adds the complete Telegram document path: TL parsing for files, attachment recognition in history, chunked transfer and file-reference handling.

When a document arrives in a conversation, the GUI shows it as an attachment with its name and size. The context menu offers Download: the client creates a downloads/ drawer, sanitizes the filename and writes the file as a stream instead of loading the whole transfer into memory. The references needed for the download are kept current when Telegram supplies a newer one.

The reverse path starts from the Telegram menu or the conversation context menu. An ASL requester lets the user choose a local file, which is split into parts and sent through Telegram’s MTProto upload path. The current limit is 10 MB: it is an explicit boundary, not a vague promise that turns into an error after half an hour of transfer.

The least visible part is also the one that deserves the most respect. Receive, encryption and send buffers were resized so a transfer that works in a host build does not fail on OS4, MorphOS or AROS. On machines with different memory constraints and network stacks, “the file is small” is not a memory-management strategy.

Saved Messages as a cloud drawer

Alpha 0.0.6 also adds the Saved Messages chat, the conversation with your own account. It is more useful than it sounds: send a file from your phone or PC and pick it up on the Amiga, or send it in the other direction, without inventing a separate synchronization protocol.

The chat is pinned in the list and cannot be removed accidentally. Messages and files also keep the normal conversation behavior: they can be edited or deleted through the context menu. Telegram becomes a small cloud bridge between machines that share neither an operating system nor a filesystem, while the Amiga client stays focused on the part it can do well.

A more complete GUI

File sharing is the headline feature, but it is not the only change. The development-era program name telegram-test has finally been replaced by TelegramAmiga, a better fit for a project now distributed through GitHub and Aminet.

The package no longer uses IconX scripts for normal launching. It contains one binary and two Workbench icons: TelegramAmiga opens the GUI, while TelegramAmiga-TUI is the text front-end. The release also adds click-to-place caret support in the composer and search box, forward-delete with the Del key, NewLook menus and an Iconify action that leaves an AppIcon on Workbench.

Avatar handling has been refined again. RTG screens can use richer colours, while palettized displays keep a more conservative profile. This is the kind of detail that rarely appears in a release headline but decides whether an Amiga GUI looks readable or gives every face a radioactive laboratory tint.

In-place upgrades and cleaner packages

Users upgrading an existing installation by copying the new drawer over the old one get another practical improvement. At startup the client removes only known leftovers from earlier versions, such as the old binary, IconX scripts and duplicate icons. Session, cache and user data are not part of the cleanup list.

The data/ drawer is also included correctly in the release packages. In a client that depends on public API credentials, configuration and state files, the difference between “the directory exists in the repository” and “the directory actually arrives in the archive” is the difference between installation and archaeology.

Downloads: GitHub and Aminet

Alpha 0.0.6 is available for all declared platforms. The GitHub archives include the client, icons, IT/EN manuals and the public API file; they do not include Telegram sessions or other private data.

The starting point for source code, issues, documentation and current status is the official Telegram Amiga repository on GitHub. For the longer story, see the development diary, updated alongside this release.

Project status

The word alpha still matters. Telegram Amiga now handles text, history, replies, edit/delete, read receipts, avatars and small files; it is not Telegram Desktop on an Amiga and does not pretend to be. Inline photos, reactions, complete contact management and files over 10 MB belong to the next rounds.

Alpha 0.0.6 is still an important threshold: the client can become a practical transfer drawer between devices, and the project is now dealing with application-level problems rather than only serializing text. When retrocomputing works, it is not a postcard from the past. It is a system that can still enter the operational flow of the present.

In short

  • Telegram Amiga alpha 0.0.6 adds downloads for received files and uploads up to 10 MB.
  • Downloads go into downloads/; uploads use the ASL requester or the GUI menus.
  • Saved Messages becomes a cloud drawer for moving files between an Amiga, a phone and a PC.
  • The project moves from telegram-test to the TelegramAmiga binary, with two Workbench icons and no launcher scripts.
  • The release is available on GitHub and Aminet for AmigaOS 3.x, AmigaOS 4.x, MorphOS, AROS i386 and AROS x86_64.

Sources

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IT specialist, developer and systems engineer with a long history across code, Linux servers, retrocomputers and e-learning platforms. On AndroidLab he brings a technical, pragmatic eye: less brochure smoke, more attention to infrastructure, usability, privacy, updates and the real consequences of manufacturers' choices.

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