In the west, almost everyone uses Facebook, but in China, half of the 1.3 billion population are using WeChat. China’s largest social network has far more complicated functions than its Western analogue, Whatsapp. Today’s WeChat is a combination of Facebook, Skype and Whatsapp. That’s why it’s confusing sometimes, because there were some handy functions which I still hadn’t figured out even after a year of using it.
1 Change your QR code picture
Whenever I pulled out my phone for the old QR code swap with new acquaintances, it would bug me that I had a boring QR code while my friends had cute pictures of bread or animals, so this feature really enhanced my WeChat experience.
To change your QR code picture, go to your QR code, click the three dots on the top right hand corner and click Change Style.
2 Use it in your browser
This feature and its super simple sign in process has changed the way I work and communicate with my co-workers. Now I can send them links, text, and files from my computer.
Go to https://web.WeChat.com/. All you have to do is scan the QR code on your screen with your phone and press “sign in” on your phone. No passwords required!
3 Send messages to yourself
This seems like a no-brainer, but it took me a year of spamming my sister with random locations of where I left my bike until someone told me about it.
Simply search for your own name in the search bar. Duh!
4 Translate messages
WeChat allows you to instantly translate messages and moments posts, so you can figure out what your Chinese friend is saying about whatever they’re having for dinner.
Long press on the message you want to translate and click Translate.
5 Voiceprint
You can set up your WeChat account to recognize your voice and log in that way. All you have to do is read out a set of numbers from your screen, instead of having to remember passwords. It’s also set up to recognize any language.
Me > Settings > My Account > Voiceprint
(With contribution from Rhea Liu)