When using Telegram on multiple devices, where do End-to-End-encrypted chats arrive at?

Question

I have two (Android) devices with Telegram installed. Somebody started a private chat with me and gave up because I did not see it on my phone. When I later looked onto my tablet I saw the encrypted chat there.

Is there any way to control where an encrypted chat arrives at?

Solution

The secret chat request is sent to all your authorized devices. Once a secret chat started it is only available on the device that started it and the device that accepted it. Perhaps you had some temporary communication problem that prevented the initial request from appearing on your phone.

From Telegram's FAQ:

secret chats are not part of the Telegram cloud and can only be accessed on their devices of origin.

Comments

[Arjan]

I see some votes to migrate this to the Android SE. I disagree; this is not specific to Android, and also applies to the Windows or Mac clients.

[nyuszika7h]

@Arjan I know this is an old question, but for the record, the desktop clients (still) don't support secret chats. That said, it's not specific to Android as it also applies to iOS.

[Adam]

@nyuszika7h The native macOS app also supports secret chats.

[nyuszika7h]

@Adam That's true, but the cross-platform Telegram Desktop client doesn't. For Windows 10 you can use the third-party app Unigram, however in my experience its implementation is buggy - I was receiving the messages a friend sent in a secret chat from Unigram on my iOS device, but he wasn't receiving any of my messages.