How to pay for a Telegram subscription on iOS with a mobile phone or card

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Daria Gromova

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On June 19, Telegram officially launched Premium subscription for iPhone. It doubles the limits on pinning chats, doubles the number of chat folders, allows you to download larger files and do it faster – plus other benefits. It costs 449 rubles a month, but Apple Pay no longer works with Russian bank cards. However, there are still a couple of ways to get around this limitation.

Payment from a mobile phone account

The method is suitable for those who want all payments to automatically go through Apple, despite the sanctions.

For MTS and Beeline subscribers

These operators allow you to use your phone balance to pay for the App Store, and there is a good chance that you have already set it up. If not, here's how to choose your phone bill as your main payment method:

1. Go to your smartphone settings.
2. Click on your Apple ID account name .
3. In the “Payment and delivery” menu, log in using Face ID or Touch ID.
4. Go to “Add a payment method”, select the “Mobile phone” option and enter the desired number. If you have previously added a phone number, you can skip this step and the next one.
5. Wait for an SMS with a confirmation code and enter it. After that, the phone number will appear in the list of payment options.
6. Click “Edit” and drag the payment from mobile to the first place in the list.
7. Check that there are checkmarks in the menu next to the items “Mobile phone” and “Use this mobile phone number”.

For MegaFon and Tele2 subscribers

These operators have disabled the ability to pay for the App Store with a mobile phone bill, so subscribers will have to turn to gift cards. It is difficult to find physical cards for sale (and at face value it is completely impossible), but you can ask your friends with MTS or Beeline to issue you a digital gift card. To do this:

1. In the Today section of the App Store, click on the profile icon in the upper right corner.
2. Select “Send gift card by email”.
3. Enter the email of the person you are going to Send a gift. It may not match the Apple ID – the main thing is that this box has access. You can choose the amount from the standard options (1000, 1500 or 3000 rubles), or specify any value in the range from 500 to 9000 rubles.
4. Select a design and confirm the order by clicking “Buy”.

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After receiving the gift card, all that remains is to activate it:



1. In the Today section of the App Store, click the profile icon in the upper right corner.
2. Select Redeem a Gift Card or Code.
3. Enter the code received by mail and click “Activate”.

After the funds are credited to the balance, you can use them to pay for any subscriptions, including Telegram Premium.

Payment card

Simultaneously with the new subscription, Telegram launched an official bot that allows you to get Premium cheaper: 299 rubles instead of 449 in the App Store, a 33% benefit. It's easy to subscribe this way:



1. Launch Premium Bot (at the time of testing, it only works in the new version of the application on iOS, on macOS it fails to start).
2. Click “Start”.
3. A message will appear with the benefits of Telegram Premium. Click “Pay 299.00 RUB”.
4. Click “Payment Method” and enter your card details. Here you can also switch the switch next to “Save details” to the active position so as not to fill in the details every time.
5. Accept the terms of the user agreement and click “Pay 299.00 ₽”.

An important point: at the start, the cost of a subscription through a bot was 379 rubles. To update the price, enter the /start command again.

Before buying, be sure to check that you have launched the official bot: this can be seen from the specific checkmark to the right of the name, which is different from the usual emoji.

Cover : Daria Gromova/Shutterstock