glossary

Telegram Mini App

A web app that runs inside Telegram through the Mini Apps WebView API. Players launch it from a bot, a chat, or a channel.

Telegram Mini Apps use a WebView-based runtime exposed through the Telegram Web Apps API. The runtime gives the app access to user identity (with Telegram's auth-data signing scheme), the chat context, share-to-chat, native UI primitives (main button, back button, haptic feedback), Telegram Stars and TON payment APIs, and the Telegram Cloud Storage key-value store.

Mini Apps run in any Telegram client (iOS, Android, Web, Desktop). The same JavaScript bundle ships everywhere. The runtime budget is around 20MB initial bundle for healthy launch performance. WebGL works. PlayDeck is a Telegram-native game-publishing surface that publishes Mini Apps with its own discovery and review track.

For game studios, Telegram Mini Apps are the lowest-friction SuperApp surface. The SDK is open and well-documented. Stars and TON give studios two payment rails out of the box. Distribution through Telegram channels can be organic and viral. Brainjuice Labs' Rugs to Riches is live as a Telegram Mini App via PlayDeck.