What’s WeChat got over WhatsApp? Check the following spreads for the low down.
Fairly standard starting screens for both. The WhatsApp program provides two main features, “Calls”, and “Chat”. WeChat does do voice calling but doesn’t have a dedicated screen and instead devotes two screens to social networking and other functions.
Contacts screen – much the same. Though WeChat does tend to classify contacts between official accounts (businesses) and personal accounts.
Discover – now this is where things get interesting, at least for WeChat. WeChat has “Moments”, its integrated social network, but also features like location-based discovery (“Shake”, “People Nearby”, “Drift Bottle”), games, and QR code scanning.
Settings – fairly standard between the two. Both apps allow you to back up chat history, but WeChat goes that extra mile and allows backing up to the cloud.
Me screen – another screen unique to WeChat. This is where you can have a look at all your posts through “My Posts”, explore your favorites, meander down to the sticker shop and that all important other feature that’s missing from a lot of Western chat programs, payment services.
Wallet screen – WeChat Wallet is like Paypal on steroids. With WeChat Payment, you’re able to pay different kinds of bills, buy things over on e-commerce site JD.com, book taxis, pay for groceries in-store, remit money to friends, invest your money, book rail/plane tickets and split bills with friends. You name it, it can be done with WeChat Payment.