[First Look] WeChat – the best thing since Talkbox and WhatsApp?

Fun with Verne.

 

Fun with Verne.

WeChat can be summed up as a merge between Path, WhatsApp and Talkbox with its own quirky personality. Officially launched in Malaysia in June, With over 100 million users, who at the moment are predominantly from China, WeChat aims to go international, localizing content and providing language support. WeChat currently supports English, Traditional/Simplified Chinese, Indonesian, Portuguese, Thai, and Vietnamese on iOS, Android, Symbian, and Windows platforms, only leaving out BlackBerry (You poor souls!). It does look as though they intend to add BlackBerry support however, so keep checking!

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Unlike many other chat applications, WeChat has its own quirky personality with random features that you don’t see in other messaging apps. For instance, the drift bottle feature is a funny little thing. It allows you to write short messages using text or voice, stuffs it into a drift bottle and allows random people on the WeChat network to pick it up, read/listen to it then keep it or throw it back into the ocean. Probably something you’d do if you’re lonely. Don’t get what i’m saying? Look below. Its unfortunate that i keep getting Chinese messages, since i can’t read it (BaNaNaNaNa), but that’s natural, considering only 10% of the 100 million are currently outside of China.

 

WeChat currently supports English, Traditional/Simplified Chinese, Indonesian, Portuguese, Thai, and Vietnamese on iOS, Android, Symbian, and Windows. Wechat features multimedia communication flexibility and convenience with text messaging, hold-to-talk voice messaging, broadcast (one-to-many) messaging, photo/video sharing, location sharing, and contact information exchange. It also offers enhanced one-on-one and group chat sessions with an extensive range of animated and custom emoticon and emoji art, customizable backgrounds, and a Rock-Paper-Scissors mini-game. On top of that, WeChat encourages creative expression by allowing the user to apply artistic filters to photos, populate captioned photos into a personal photo journal, and distribute photos to friends.

No friends on WeChat? Don’t worry, WeChat’s social system allows you to send invitations via Facebook or phone contacts (via SMS, WhatsApp)

Take a look at our gallery for more screenies of this app and let us know what you think about it! It’s free, so go on and try it out!
http://www.wechatapp.com

 

Brian Chan
Former Lecturer. Gamer. Idea Generator. Tournament Organizer. Loves Kairosoft games. Lived in a box twice in Recettear. Never turns down a Catan challenge. Cheats in Monopoly. Broke Skyrim. Sucks at Dance Central. Plays a fem Shep. Heavy bow-gunner in MH3p. Completed Persona 2 Portable 4 times. Well, he's just too damn free.