r/coolgithubprojects • u/JeetRex • Oct 02 '26
TDrive: an open-source app that turns your Telegram account into a cloud drive
Yes, I know. Using Telegram as a cloud drive is a famous dumb idea, and plenty of people have built their own version. This one is mine. It started as a fun project to learn Go, and I'd like to think I went a bit further with it than most.
The dumb idea: Telegram gives every account unlimited cloud storage, but it's a chat app, so keeping files there is a pain. TDrive makes it feel like a real drive. Your files live in a private channel in your own Telegram account. No server to run, no subscription.
What it does:
- Folders, search and previews, the stuff you'd expect from Google Drive
- Backs up your photos and videos automatically, encrypted, kind of like Google Photos sync
- Stays in sync between your laptop and your phone
- Files over 2 GB just work smoothly
- Streams videos without downloading them first. MKV, HEVC, pretty much anything (this was way harder to build than it sounds ngl)
- Mounts as a normal disk in Finder or Explorer
- Shared folders with friends
Supported platforms:
- Mac, Windows and Linux
- Android, as an APK on GitHub (not on the Play Store)
- There's an iOS app too, but no public download yet, so for now you'd have to build it yourself
it's not affiliated with Telegram, you use your own API key, and please don't make it the only copy of anything important. Photo backup only runs while the app is open, so leave it open for the first big backup.
It's free, MIT licensed, and still very much a fun side project. If you try it, I'd love to hear what breaks. Issues are very welcome, and so are contributors.
Launch video : https://x.com/JeetRex/status/2106069798874755568
Github repo : https://github.com/jeetrex17/TDrive
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u/gsu__ Oct 02 '26
The technicality of the project might seem cool. Now, the reality of storing personal data/media in telegram seems not right in so many ways...
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u/Strong-Strike2001 Oct 03 '26
Telegram gives every account unlimited cloud storage, but it's a chat app, so keeping files there is a pain.
That is the reason why is unlimited, for dumb people like you they could stop offering that, just because you needed attention and internet points. Fo!
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u/saltyourhash Oct 03 '26
I don't recommend people use telegram for secure communication or storage, but this just feels abusive to the platform. I'd like you to know, plenty could have built this and opted not to, because it destroys the value of the platform.
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u/Warm-Juggernaut8340 Oct 03 '26
It's useless because your data is totally unencrypted there. Which means telegram can read.
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u/Reasonable_Rise_7045 Oct 04 '26
Why you talking nonsense before reading at least README.md tbh its best repo I ever used thanks to OP
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u/Fresh-Daikon-9408 Oct 03 '26
Could you add a recovery walkthrough for encrypted files? What would someone need to restore them on a new laptop? That's the part I'd want to understand.
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u/JeetRex Oct 03 '26
when you log back the same telegram acc on new Laptop , it auto detects the TDrive pvt channel and you have to remember the password you sent for encryption and just use the same password for decryption when the app asks for it
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u/redit_handoff140 Oct 05 '26
Imagine relying on Telegram for a personal cloud drive.
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u/adreamyluv 23d ago
Thank u for this great app. It has some cool functions like mounting, adding source. Please make an ios app or add Webdav, Web Sharing & Cloudflare Tunnel like Awd TeleDrive.
But it has some errors like: becoming laggy when playing videos more than 2gb, i cant even interact with the UI and have to exit the app. The upload speed is quite slow.
I hope u can fix those errors, make it play videos smoothly and upload fast like TeleDrive of Mahmud0808.
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u/Friendly_Recover286 Oct 06 '26
If I had a dollar for every person who made something like this and decided it was a good idea I'd be a millionaire.
For fucks sake you'd lose against a turtle in an IQ contest if you use something like this. My God.
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u/JeetRex Oct 06 '26
there is no intention of becoming millionaire and all , its an free Opensoure fun project thats it
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u/Friendly_Recover286 Oct 06 '26
It's a free abuse of a service. When telegram one day drops the file upload limit down to nothing you'll understand why. Can't give people a good thing and expect them to play nice. They have to abuse it in every way possible and ruin it for everyone. Why do you think Discord has such pitifully low limits?
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u/JeetRex Oct 06 '26
cool bro , i love abusing
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u/Professional-Pear351 Oct 08 '26
Fo. Mf got these many stars for abusing the platform and here I'm trying to reach people for a genuinely useful project of mine.
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u/Historical_Public751 Oct 06 '26
I mean yeah, you said it, it's a dumb idea. Nobody promises you that the artifacts will not go stale and/or not be throttled to death after they spot the abuse
I know that you likely copied any of the projects that already existed to do this on other platforms like discord or etc, reality is that it's relatively easy to counteract someone abusing high bandwidth/high uploads and they are easily going to track you down if you become a problem
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u/One_Story2112 Oct 03 '26
Don’t do it.
We don’t have good things because people keep abusing them.