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Mini App: what it is and how to set it up

Updated over 2 weeks ago

A Mini App in Zenedu is a convenient way to gather your educational product in one place right inside Telegram. Subscribers can open the Mini App, go through learning, manage subscriptions, and work with content without switching to third-party websites and without registration.

In this article, we’ll figure out how the Mini App works, how to enable it, and what you can configure.


1. What a Mini App in Zenedu is

A Mini App is an interface inside Telegram that looks and feels like a separate app, but it launches прямо from the bot.

With it, you can:

  • show products, channels and groups in a convenient format,

  • manage access to lessons,

  • give subscribers a single place for learning and subscriptions,

  • improve the user experience compared to the обычное bot menu.

Unlike the standard Telegram menu, a Mini App:

  • looks more modern,

  • is better suited for learning,

  • lets you flexibly manage the structure and appearance.


2. What the Mini App looks like for a subscriber

From the subscriber’s side, everything looks simple. The subscriber:

  • opens the bot,

  • taps the button to open the Mini App,

  • gets into the Mini App with screens, a menu, and content.

Inside the Mini App, they can:

  • see available courses, channels and groups,

  • go through learning,

  • manage subscriptions,

  • view their profile and progress.

The Mini App opens quickly and doesn’t require installation — if desired, the subscriber can add it to the phone’s home screen like a regular app.


3. How to create and activate a Mini App

To start working with a Mini App, you don’t need to develop anything.

Step 1. Activate the Mini App

Go to the "Mini App" section in the Zenedu panel and press the activation button. After that, the Mini App will be created automatically.

By default, it will already include:

  • one onboarding screen,

  • a content section,

  • a subscriber profile.

Step 2. Finish the setup via BotFather

For the Mini App to work fully for subscribers, you need to complete the final step — connect it in BotFather.

This is needed so that:

  • the Mini App opens from the bot,

  • the Mini app-open button appears,

  • subscribers can add the Mini App to the home screen.

In BotFather settings, it’s enough to specify the link to your Mini App and save the changes.

After that, the Mini App is considered fully activated.


4. The Mini App’s structure and content

In this section, you configure what exactly the subscriber will see inside the Mini App.

Onboarding screens

Onboarding is the welcome screens that a subscriber sees when launching the Mini App for the first time.

They help to:

  • explain what this Mini App is,

  • set the context,

  • guide the user дальше.

You can change the text and the order of the screens. For Basic plan, 1 onboarding screen is available. With Pro, you can create 3 onboarding screens.

Mini App menu

The menu is the main way to navigate inside the Mini App. Through the menu, a subscriber goes to:

  • courses and lessons,

  • subscriptions,

  • profile,

  • support,

  • other important sections.

You decide which items will be in the menu and in what order.

The menu can contain a maximum of 5 items — leave only the most important.

Subscriber profile

The profile is the subscriber’s personal section.

Usually it contains:

  • subscription management,

  • access to the affiliate program,

  • service sections like support.

Content and products

The Mini App shows the content you have already created in Zenedu.

You can:

  • upload covers for courses and products,

  • add descriptions,

  • manage lesson visibility,

  • configure access to steps and materials.

Essentially, the Mini App becomes a convenient storefront for your products and learning.

Lessons open according to the step schedule or when a lesson is tapped in the Mini App — it is automatically sent to the bot.

If access to a product has ended, it remains in the list but becomes not clickable.

Channels and groups are displayed together with products. When tapping them, the student goes to the specified channel or group.


5. Branding and design of the Mini App

You can customize the design of the Mini App to match your project.

Available settings:

  • Mini App name,

  • logo,

  • primary color,

  • display theme (light, dark, or system).

These settings help make the Mini App more recognizable and neatly embed it into your brand.


6. Publishing the Mini App and changes

All changes in the Mini App are saved automatically, but become visible to subscribers only after publishing.

What "Publish" means:

The "Publish" button makes the current version of the Mini App available to subscribers. If you:

  • changed screens,

  • updated the menu,

  • changed the branding,

— these changes will appear for subscribers only after publishing.


Summary

A Mini App in Zenedu is a simple way to improve the subscriber experience and gather the entire educational product in one convenient interface inside Telegram.

You:

  • activate the Mini App in a couple of clicks,

  • configure the structure and content,

  • publish the changes,

  • and get a full-featured Mini App without code and development.


Additionally:

  1. Configure lesson access in the Mini App: in "Product", check the "Access" column for each lesson. After that, they will be displayed in your Mini App.

  2. Use "Preview" and see how it will look for students in the Mini App.

  3. The "Support", "Subscriptions", and "Affiliates" items can be placed either in the profile or in the menu. To move them, tap the three dots next to the item and select the desired option.

  4. In "Support channel":

    • if you select "Bot", the Mini App will collapse and open your bot;

    • if you select "Link", you can specify a link to the manager’s Telegram contact.

  5. The Mini App can be disabled at any time and then enabled again. If you need to completely remove the Mini App from the bot, in BotFather tap “Disable Main App”.

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