WeChatfor iOS

Stay in the loop with your contacts on WeChat. It’s a solid way to interact with your friends and family.

A world of socializing in one app

A great way to stay in touch with friends, create group chats, and watch live updates from your contacts.

Discover new and exciting ways to stay in touch with your contacts. WeChat offers  great features, some of which are not available on other messaging apps.

You can set up your account without any hassle. You have the option of signing up with your phone number or with a Facebook account. Choose a username for yourself and add a display picture if you want. You can even sync Facebook contacts or your phone contact list.

Another interesting feature of the app is that it mimics ApplePay or Venmo by letting you use it as a digital bank card. This feature is dependent on availability as well, as some businesses may not accept this form of payment.

With that said, you can also send out money to contacts as well. The “red packets” feature lets you send a literal money packet to contacts. Select individuals in your chat list to send them cash, or let the packets loose in a group chat and watch members go after them.

Also, take advantage of the HD quality of the video and voice calls. WeChat originally started off as a voice calling service and has since improved its audio quality. You can send audio clips, call contacts, and set up video chats over the program.

Where the program falls short is its lack of privacy. This is in part because China uses this program for surveillance of its citizens. Another point to note with this app is that because most users are Chinese, this app has posts predominantly in Mandarin. It is also hard to tell if a WeChat user is online, offline, or if they are still an active user of the app.

Where can you run this program?

This program is installable on devices using iOS 6.0 and above.

Is there a better alternative?

Yes. Whatsapp offers similar services and has end-to-end encryptions so that your conversations are secure. Also, it shows you the last time someone was online.

Our take

WeChat is definitely a unique and well-designed program. It has interesting features and functions well, but its current Chinese target base and lack of privacy weaken the app's practicality in the States.

Should you download it?

No. If you’re looking for data protection and privacy along with an app designed for day-to-day use, this isn’t for you.