Hmm...So I have Telegram installed via F-Droid (so presumably without Google Play Services). I do NOT have the "People Nearby" feature. I am curious if that means my location is not published?
I can't find the feature at the described location either, but apparently if you go to contacts there is a "find people nearby" button. If I click it it asks me to share the location, which I have disabled. So I guess I'm safe?
It usually takes some time for Telegram to be published on F-Droid, so the newest version on F-Droid is 7.2.1 while the newest one on Android is 7.3.1. It might contain such a menu on the newer version like in that screenshot. Or the button only appears at that place if you have enabled location sharing.
Same, I don't see this feature either on iOS Telegram app.
Edit: I turned enabled location sharing under iOS settings for Telegram app and "Find People Nearby" is now showing as the first list item under the Contacts tab.
It took me a while to find it on iOS, it’s under the contacts tab called “find people near by”. It doesn’t seem to work without location enabled so hopefully that would keep you safe.
To be fair, it doesn't ask for permissions until you click on it, and (on iOS at least) the permission isn't automatically granted. This all looks above board IMHO
People do that so they do not have to type by hand all their friends using the app. Granted, most people probably don’t have a lot of friends using Telegram... but that’s not what Telegram is hoping.
I wouldn't call it helplessly outdated, at most it's a version behind. But there's a number of reasons for this. For starters Telegram themselves lag behind in releasing the source code for the app[1]. Then the volunteers who make the FOSS version[2] have to update their fork and make sure it works. Then finally it's submitted to F-Droid, where it's compiled by their build servers (of which the build process occasionally breaks and needs to be fixed).
I think the assurances that this offers (entirely FOSS, reproducible builds, better privacy and security[3]) outweighs being sometimes days or weeks behind the releases they upload to the Google Play Store.
