WeChat for Android

WeChat for Android is the most popular mobile app for the Chinese Internet communication platform. As the main form of this instant messenger is the mobile app which should be installed on the smartphone and registered to the phone number (and the Android-based smartphones and tablets are the most widely used devices in China), the WeChat Android messenger has become the absolute leader there.

WeChat for Android mobile phone or tablet is a fully functional solution which can perform all tasks which can be needed in the personal or business communication, and also it lets the user do much more things with just one application.

The features of the WeChat for Android messenger

First of all, you need to get the messenger and install it on your mobile phone or tablet. It should be noted that the size of the installation is rather large, so it can take longer to download and install this software. After the registration and verification of the account, you get access to all options of WeChat. In short, they can be divided into three sections: instant communication, social media and practical/payment options. One application can replace several separate products.

WeChat for Android can perform the following tasks:

• Instant text messaging. There are personal and group chats, sets of smileys and stickers are also provided to express emotions in the text conversation. The in-built translation tool will let people speaking different languages chat smoothly.
• Exchange files (images, audio files, videos, contacts and locations are supported). Instead of typing the text, you can record a voice message directly in the chat window and send it (the messenger will require access to the microphone on your Android device). Besides, there is a collection of filters and captions directly in the messenger which you can apply to the image.
• Free unlimited calls in real time. Like many other instant messengers, WeChat for Android mobile phone will allow its users calling each other with the support for voice and video. Audio and video chats can be private or conference.
• WeChat Out is a service similar to Skype to phone and Viber Out.

It will let make calls to the usual phone numbers from the application on the Android smartphone or tablet. The payments are done on the "credits" system (users can put a certain amount on the account to use the money for calls). This calling service is not available all over the world, now it covers 8 countries only, most of them from Asia (China, India, Thailand, Laos, Hong Kong and Macau), and also the USA and Italy.

The social media features available in WeChat for Android are the following:

• Official accounts. WeChat allows setting such accounts which other users can subscribe to. Then the subscribers will get news on the topic, and the account owner will be able to communicate with them directly to help or offer services.
• Moments. It is a social network for the WeChat users. Here they can post texts and photos, share music and videos, follow each other, comment others' posts and leave likes for them. It is possible to link Moments with Facebook and Twitter and post simultaneously on several platforms. Text posts can also be translated by this Android messenger.
• Time Capsule. Here users can record short instant videos with their cameras on the Android smartphones and upload them directly online. These videos are saved for 24 hours, and then they are deleted (similar to Stories in Snapchat).
• Look Around and Bottle. The first feature will show the "looking around" status to other people with the same status, so they can find each other using their Android devices and start to communicate. The second feature lets the user sending a message to the network so that other users of this messenger can get it and reply.

This Android messenger can also become a digital wallet and thus turn your mobile phone or tablet into a fully functional payment means.

• WeChat Pay is a service where people can link their accounts in the messenger with the bank accounts and pay bills and purchase goods from the application (it is also possible to perform direct money transfers between the WeChat accounts).
• City Services. This service will also let the user pay bills (electricity only), pay fines and book transport tickets and arrange doctor appointments.

Thus, if you decide to get WeChat for an Android smartphone or tablet, you will receive a really powerful product for communication and daily tasks. It combines the functionality of the instant messenger, the social network, the regular phone, the organizer and the wallet, and no wonder that it has become the leader of the Chinese Internet communication market and gets more popularity in other countries, too.