WeChat is a pretty popular messaging app, that the majority of us in the west probably have never heard of. WeChat is very popular in Asia, and it’s one of the only ways that most people communicate. In China, specifically, WeChat is the most popular messaging app. Ahead of WhatsApp, Line and a few others. And today, the company announced a new feature called WeChat Out. It allows users to call cell phones and landlines at very low rates. Currently, the service is available in the US, Hong Kong, and India. However, WeChat says that it’ll be available in more countries soon. WeChat is also giving every user $0.99 USD in calling credit, which gives you about 100 minutes, to get started with WeChat Out.
This is a popular feature that many messaging services have been adding in recent months. WhatsApp just recently added calling, as well as Line. Who is another pretty popular messaging app in Asia. Making it easier to call internationally, and cheaper. That’s always a good thing for those that have family and friends in other countries. The WeChat Out service is currently rolling out to both the iOS and Android versions of the app.
WeChat also has a slew of other great features, including all types of stickers and emojis that you can send to others. WeChat also has the ability to call other users on their WeChat account, so they are expanding the calling feature to work for those that don’t have a WeChat account, or at least are not logged in. WeChat also allows you to send voice messages to anyone, which is the popular form of communication in Asia. While WeChat isn’t as popular as WhatsApp, continuing to add features like WeChat Out is definitely going to help them close the gap. We’re looking at about a 250 million user gap between the two right now.
Currently, WeChat is available on the Google Play Store and is free. There are some in-app purchases which are for different sticker packs that you can use. It’s a great messaging app, and works pretty flawlessly, to be honest.