Telegram Bug Floods iPhones with Fake Notifications, Causing Severe Overheating and Battery Drain

A persistent bug in the Telegram messaging app has been causing iOS devices to overheat dramatically and rapidly drain their batteries by spamming hundreds of false push notifications in the background. The issue triggers constant English-language alerts reading "You have a new message" even when users have Russian language settings enabled and message previews turned off, rendering the notifications useless. Reports of the problem first emerged in May but intensified after the release of Telegram version 12.9, which appears to create an infinite loop in background processes that overworks the CPU. Affected users report battery losses of up to 11 percent within 30 minutes of idle time, with some devices becoming hot enough that Apple automatically pauses charging until temperatures drop. One journalist resorted to using a gaming controller with a built-in fan to keep an iPhone cool enough to charge. The only temporary workaround involves clearing the app cache and performing a full reinstall from the App Store, though the bug has been known to return after one or two weeks for some users.

AntiMalwareTranslated from Russian

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A persistent bug in the Telegram messaging app has been causing iOS devices to overheat dramatically and rapidly drain their batteries by spamming hundreds of false push notifications in the background.

The issue triggers constant English-language alerts reading "You have a new message" even when users have Russian language settings enabled and message previews turned off, rendering the notifications useless and filling the notification shade with chaos.

Reports of the problem first emerged in May but intensified after the release of Telegram version 12.9, which appears to create an infinite loop in background processes that overworks the CPU.

Affected users report battery losses of up to 11 percent within 30 minutes of idle time, with some devices becoming hot enough that Apple automatically pauses charging until temperatures drop.

One journalist even resorted to using a gaming controller with a built-in fan to keep an iPhone cool enough to charge during the ordeal.

Temporary Workaround

The only temporary workaround involves the following steps:

  • Go to Telegram Settings → Data and Storage → Storage Usage and clear the cache.
  • Ensure you have access to your password or recovery codes via email or other linked devices.
  • Delete the Telegram app from the device.
  • Reinstall it from the App Store and log back in.

While this approach helps many users, the bug has been known to return after one or two weeks for some, leaving the community waiting for a proper fix from the Telegram development team.

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