I have been writing about Data Science and its applications for some time now as that’s the primary goal of this website. I have taken some time away from writing the past month and concentrated on academic work. I will put my findings here once done. Hope they be worth it. Back to the topic in question.
Many would argue that Whatsapp is the biggest messaging tool in the world primarily because of the diverse population using it. Some would argue about numbers using Wechat being superior. I believe I’m better placed eliciting some of the differences since I have equally used both and lived in environments where their usage is maximized.
Notable Features on Wechat:
1. Silent Playing a Video – When you are in a quiet place without earphones.
2. Wechat wallet – Ability to book your Rail/Flight or order Taxi via the App,connect to your bank account, buy a movie ticket, order food etc.
3.Clarity in Video and Voice Calling – Wechat is clearer under same conditions compared to Whatsapp.
4. Wechat Moments – Share real-time videos for your friends to see.
5. Integrating 3rd party applications to the platform.
6. Location Detection i.e. Real-time view as well as finding people nearby.
7. Official Accounts
8. Popular with users in China.
9. Ability to create groups of maximum 500 people.
Notable Features on Whatsapp:
1. Wider reach as its popular worldwide.
2. Ability to make video and voice calls.
3. Ability to form groups of at most 100 people. Not very sure if this changed.
The two tools are almost similar in their interfaces and design. Some people find it easier to use Whatsapp especially if their friends etc are spread all over the world. It’s a popular tool at least out of China. The Chinese I’m sure wouldn’t trade anything for Wechat. Wechat is very powerful compared to Whatsapp especially in the tasks it can accomplish. I may sound a little biased but any day or time I would go for Wechat if all my friends had Wechat accounts. On the hindsight, Wechat occupies more phone memory and its bandwidth usage is also quite high compared to Whatsapp. Its all about one choosing what is best for him or her.
DataXpats 