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WeChat

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WeChat
Developer(s)Tencent Holdings
Initial releaseJanuary 2011 (2011-01)
Stable release
iOS8.0.4 / April 7, 2021; 3 years ago (2021-04-07)[1]
macOS3.0.1 / April 3, 2021; 3 years ago (2021-04-03)[2]
Android7.0.21 / January 6, 2021; 3 years ago (2021-01-06)[3]
Operating systemiOS, Android, Windows Phone, Symbian, BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry 10, OS X
Available inEnglish, Chinese (Simplified & Traditional), Thai, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Malay, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Polish, Italian, Russian, Hindi, Turkish
TypeInstant Messaging Client
LicenceProprietary
Websitewww.wechat.com (International)
weixin.qq.com (China)

WeChat (Chinese: 微信; pinyin: Wēixìn; lit. 'micro message') is a mobile text and voice messaging communication service developed by Tencent in China, first released in January 2011.[4] The app is available on Android, iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, Symbian, and OS X[5] platforms. Languages supported include traditional/simplified Chinese, English, Indonesian, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Malay, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Italian, Thai, Vietnamese, Hindi and Russian. WeChat is supported on Wi-Fi, 2G, 3G, and 4G data networks.

WeChat provides multimedia communication with text messaging, hold-to-talk voice messaging, broadcast (one-to-many) messaging, photo/video sharing, location sharing, and contact information exchange. WeChat supports social networking[6] via shared streaming content feeds and location-based social plug-ins ("Shake", "Look Around", and "Drift Bottle") to chat with and connect with local and international WeChat users.[7]

Photos can be taken and embellished with artistic filters, captions, and placed into a personal photo journal for sharing with other users. User data is protected via an on-demand contact list backup and retrieval to/from the cloud. WeChat claims to provide a social networking platform that emphasizes user privacy and fast response performance.[citation needed]

Registration is completed through Facebook Connect, mobile phone SMS/VM, or Tencent QQ. The application was initially launched as Weixin in China in January 2011, with international language support in October 2011, and re-branded as WeChat in April 2012. It is being promoted in India via gaming site Ibibo, in which Tencent holds a stake.[8]

The app is available in the App Store for iOS, Google Play Store for Android, BlackBerry App World and Marketplace for Windows Phone.

History

WeChat began as a project at Tencent Guangzhou Research and Project center in October 2010.[9] The original name of the app, "Weixin", was devised by Ma Huateng, Tencent CEO.[10]

In May 2011, WeChat had 4-5 million users,[10] and by the end of 2011, it had 50 million users.[11] WeChat had more than 100 million users by March 2012.[11]

In April 2012, Weixin re-branded as WeChat for the international market.[12]

In September 2012, WeChat had more than 200 million users according to Tencent CEO, Ma Huateng.[13] As of January 2013, it had 300 million.[14][15] Today WeChat is the first mobile phone text and voice messaging communication application in the world by users and downloads in the world.[citation needed] It has influence in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South-East Asia, and among Chinese people around the world.[citation needed]

In April 2013, rumors online speculated that WeChat would charge a fee for the app. A poll showed that 90% of users strongly opposed this move.[16] WeChat currently is free to download and use.

In May 2013, it was revealed that Rainie Yang would be a product endorser for WeChat.[17] To promote the app in India, WeChat recruited Bollywood actors Varun Dhawan and Parineeti Chopra as brand ambassadors.[18]

In July 2013, Tencent announced WeChat has 70 million users outside China[19] and Lionel Messi became the latest product ambassador of WeChat.[20]

In July 2013, Tencent announced to test Games within WeChat.[21]

On 5 July 2013,wechat chairman gose to (Mr SHIBIN MP)who is studying in (NTTF-TTC) Tencent Wechat 5.0 for iOS. The new version came with many new features.[22][23]

According to GlobalWebIndex, WeChat is the fifth most used smartphone app worldwide and in August 2013 WeChat claimed it had 100 million registered international users which it is achieved in only 3 months from 50 million registered international users. It also claimed 300 million registered Chinese users.[24]

According to Xinhua, WeChat total Users reached 600 millions users worldwide in October 2013.[25]

Global censorship

Starting January 9 of 2013 reports arose that Chinese language searches outside China were being keyword filtered and then blocked. This occurred both to China from foreign countries and from foreign countries to other foreign countries. WeChat already censors its communications within China. In this new international example of blocking, a message was displayed on users' screens reading “The message “南方周末” you sent contains restricted words. Please check it again.” The Chinese characters stand for a Guangzhou-based paper called Southern Weekly (or, alternatively, Southern Weekend). The next day Tencent released a statement addressing the issue saying “A small number of WeChat international users were not able to send certain messages due to a technical glitch this Thursday. Immediate actions have been taken to rectify it. We apologize for any inconvenience it has caused to our users. We will continue to improve the product features and technological support to provide better user experience.” WeChat has plans to build two different platforms to avoid this problem in the future; one for Chinese mainlanders and one for the rest of the world. The problem exists because WeChat's servers are currently all located in China and thus subject to its censorship rules.[26] [27][28]

Other

The ownership of the WeChat brand is currently the subject of a dispute between Hong Kong based Admart.Asia founder, Wayan Chan, who has used the WeChat brand on both the www.Admart.Asia and WeChat.Asia websites.[citation needed]

See also

Similar applications

References

  1. ^ Tencent Inc. (June 25, 2014). "WeChat". App Store. Apple. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  2. ^ Tencent Inc. (March 17, 2014). "WeChat". Mac App Store. Apple. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  3. ^ Tencent Inc. (November 16, 2017). "WeChat". Google Play hihi ijjnjiinjiiqwe teuwtwb 978u79798678868g769. Google. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  4. ^ "Weixin (微信) – Tencent's Bringing the Mobile IM Revolution to theMainstream". TechRice. September 21, 2011. Retrieved April 20, 2012.
  5. ^ Mittal Mandalia (2014-02-28). "WeChat announces native Mac client; Windows version may follow soon". techienews.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-03-06.
  6. ^ "Yes WeChat is a Social Network like Facebook". value2020. 2013-01-13. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
  7. ^ Value2020 (2013-01-10). "First World Map of WeChat User Base". value2020. Retrieved 2013-01-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ Tencent’s Group Messaging App WeChat Talks Its Way Into India, Tech in Asia
  9. ^ Loretta Chao , Paul Mozur (Nov 19, 2012). "Zhang Xiaolong, Wechat founder". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2012-12-02.
  10. ^ a b "微信进行时：厚积薄发的力量". 环球企业家. 2012-01-13. Retrieved 2012-12-03.
  11. ^ a b 徐婷 (2012-08-11). "微信用户数受益智能机增长暴增抢走QQ份额". 华夏时报. Retrieved 2012-12-03.
  12. ^ 陈小蒙 (2012-11-07). "微信：走出中国，走向世界？". 36氪. Retrieved 2012-12-03.
  13. ^ "微信用户数破2亿 培育行业创新最有价值". 腾讯科技. 2012-09-17. Retrieved 2012-12-03.
  14. ^ Steven Millward (2013-01-17). "Next Version of WeChat App Will Add Voice Chatrooms, Song Recognition [Screenshots]". techinasia.com. Retrieved 2013-01-18.
  15. ^ 微信用户不到两年突破3亿
  16. ^ 逾9成网友反对微信收费 称“有大把可代替应用”
  17. ^ Wechat Mother's Day Greeting by Rainie Yang
  18. ^ "Chinese Messaging App WeChat Ropes In Parineeti Chopra And Varun Dhawan To Reach Out To The Youth".
  19. ^ Wechat Oversea User Hit 70 Million, Hired Messi for Global Ad Promotion,China Internet Watch,August 20, 2013
  20. ^ "Lionel Messi Is The Latest Product Ambassador Of WeChat Messaging App". GSM Insider. 2013-07-06. Retrieved 2013-07-06.
  21. ^ "Tencent announced WeChat has 72 million users outside China". Wechat world. 2013-07-14. Retrieved 2013-07-14.
  22. ^ WeChat 5.0 for iPhone Release
  23. ^ 微信 5.0 for iPhone 全新发布
  24. ^ "More 100 million WeChat users outside China". August 16, 2013.
  25. ^ "传微信用户总数超6亿 海外业务或将独立". October 23, 2013.
  26. ^ Millward, Steven (10 January 2013). "Now China's WeChat App is Censoring Its Users Globally". TECHINASIA. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  27. ^ Millward, Steven (11 January 2013). "Tencent Responds in Case of Apparent WeChat Censorship". TECHINASIA. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  28. ^ Muncaster, Phil (11 January 2013). "China censors chat users outside China". The Register. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
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