Top 10 mobile apps by monthly active users in China

[AndrewJin]

Top 10 mobile apps by monthly active users in China
By collecting data from clients on its network, China Unicom has ranked mobile apps based on monthly active users, one of the indicators to determine an app's market value.

According to the list, Tencent's mobile messaging apps WeChat and QQ ranked No 1 and No2 in China with monthly active users of 534.99 million and 511.86 million last month respectively.

These are the top 10 mobile apps by monthly active users.

No 1 WeChat (monthly active users 534.99 million)

The loading page for WeChat is displayed on a smartphone. [Photo/IC]

No 2 QQ (monthly active users 511.86 million)

No 3 Mobile Taobao (monthly active users 184.24 million)

No 4 Sogou Input (monthly active users 165.7 million)

No 5 Mobile Baidu (monthly active users 164.71 million)

No 6 Alipay (monthly active users 153.02 million)

A customer pays the bill via the Alipay app on a smartphone. [Photo/IC]

No 7 Tencent video (monthly active users 151.54 million)

No 8 iQiyi video (monthly active users 151.11 million)

 

[AndrewJin]

No 9 Baidu map (monthly active users 141.78 million)

No 10 PPS video (monthly active users 125.28 million)

Unfortunately, I myself have all top10.
@Shotgunner51 @TaiShang @cirr @Martian2 @cnleio et al

,

 

[oprih]

No western apps, good keep it that way.

 

[AndrewJin]

No western apps, good keep it that way.

Because western apps like What's up is lame.
I can use WeChat to do things more than free message, voice message, video message, video phone, etc.
I can also transfer money to friends(especially useful when we go dutch for a meal), pay in supermarket, buy financial products, order a car, borrow money, buy discounted movie ticket, etc, etc, etc, etc.

How WeChat Out Works on Android and iOS

You may not have heard of WeChat, but people in China and other parts of Asia are very familiar with the amazing services offered by this Tencent-owned application.

Just like the rest of the common messaging apps, WeChat lets its users send free messages to other users of the app as well as enjoy free HD-quality voice and video calls over the internet. The app has a user base of over 650 million people in the world, but more than 70% of this population is based in China’s mainland.

Last week, Tencent announced a new feature on this app known as WeChat Out. Well, this one sounds familiar, does it? If you already use Skype or Viber, you should be familiar with the terms Skype Out or Viber Out. Using the newly launched service, users of WeChat are no longer restricted to chatting with only those people who have downloaded and installed the app on their phones. Instead, they can now contact anyone, regardless of whether this person is using WeChat or not.

It is now possible to make calls to friends and family living in Hong Kong, India and the U.S. at very low rates. All you need is the recipient’s cell phone number or their landline number. As expected, the company promised that this feature will soon be rolling out to more countries very soon.

As a way of getting its millions of users to try out this app, WeChat is offering free calling credit of $0.99 and according to the company, this credit will be enough to make calls totaling to 100 minutes.

Tough moments for Skype, Viber and LINE

Skype has been offering users the ability to make international calls via the Skype Out feature and so have Viber and LINE. The latter apps are very popular in Asia, just like WeChat, but they are nowhere near it. On the other hand, WhatsApp, the most popular messaging app as well as Facebook Messenger, the second most popular chat app, have no such offerings at hand, but the users can still use them to make free calls to the other users of the apps.

Having a feature that lets you keep in touch with your family members living abroad is the best thing one can ever imagine of. More, the service is currently rolling out on iOS and Android.

Other WeChat features

As mentioned earlier, WeChat is also used for messaging purposes that include text, videos, audio file, photos, emojis as well as stickers. The app also lets users carry out lots of other commercial tasks such as hail and pay for a cab, book hotel and travel reservations, send money to friends and many others; features that Facebook is trying to introduce on its Messenger platform.

WeChat is available as a free download from the official Play Store and iTunes App Store for Android and iOS users respectively.

@ahojunk @dy1022 @yusheng

 

[ahojunk]

@AndrewJin
.
Wechat has to be made more user friendly for the English speaker.

Until then, I am sticking with Whatsapp, sorry!

 

[AndrewJin]

China buyers go virtually cashless

Modern marvels: Consumers in China can purchase movie tickets and choose their preferred seats using mobile payment apps such as WeChat Wallet.

MOBILE payment is becoming increasingly ubiquitous in China, with cashless transactions replacing credit cards and cold, hard cash.

For this reason, leaving home without a wallet does not make one feel as insecure and edgy as not having a cellphone in the pocket.

Spending a day in the Chinese capital of Beijing without actual cash is possible.

With my smartphone that has several essential apps installed, I began my cashless day by ordering a taxi on a ride-hailing app just before stepping out into the chilly winter morning.

A cab driver soon accepted my request and headed in my direction to pick me up.

When I reached my destination, a commercial hub in the Dongcheng district, I paid for the cost of my ride (36 yuan or RM24) with just a few taps on my phone and the payment was immediately reflected on the driver’s phone.

After meeting up with my interviewee, we settled down at a cafe to have the conversation over a cuppa.

She graciously offered to pick up the tab – electronically – by using her mobile phone to scan the outlet’s QR code pasted on the table.

“Okay, paid,” she said.

“Can I see the proof of transaction, just to be sure?” the waitress asked.

On my way back to the office later, I made plans with a friend to watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens that weekend.

We agreed on a time and place after texting back and forth, and then I browsed the “Movie Tickets” section in my WeChat Wallet to get the tickets and choose our seats. All done within two minutes. A total of 142 yuan (RM94.40) was deducted from my bank account, which is linked to the app.

Back at the office, I received an automated call from the telecommunications company that the landline bill was now overdue. Oops. I used Alibaba’s Alipay app this time by choosing the phone bill option under the “Utilities” section. Other choices include electricity, water, heating and cable TV fees.

For electricity, Beijing practises a prepaid system – a source of constant worry at the back of my mind, as a power blackout could happen should I forget to top up the smart card at the bank before the balance runs out.

The State Grid launched an official mobile app called “Palmtop Electricity” in 2014 for users to check their real-time balance and buy electricity on the go.

Unfortunately, the meters of this office building have not been upgraded so I could not try the e-payment method yet.

At 3pm, a deliveryman for an international express mail service provider showed up at my door to collect a parcel. I did not have the exact amount of cash to pay for the courier fare and he did not have change.

“Why don’t you add me on WeChat and then transfer 180 yuan (RM119.70) to me on the app?” he suggested.

Later that evening, I met up with a group of friends for dinner. One of us paid the bill and the rest whipped out our phones – instead of wallets – to pay him back.

We didn’t even have to do the math; there is a “Go Dutch” function in Wechat Wallet designed to do just that. It sends a link to all those in attendance or creates a QR code for us to scan and pay.

After we said our goodbyes, I popped into a convenience store nearby to buy a can of soda. I scanned the QR code on the counter with my WeChat, keyed in the total (6.50 yuan or RM4.30) and hit pay. I waited for the cash register to beep before pulling the ring tab.

These popular digital wallets come in handy in many other instances. Tencent’s WeChat Wallet allows users to search for meal delivery and restaurant deals, purchase rail and flight tickets, and even invest their money in funds.

Alipay also has similar functions but since WeChat Wallet is embedded within the WeChat messaging app, which everyone uses, it is a practical option most of the time.

WeChat’s “Lucky Money” function is also wildly popular, with users sharing and grabbing virtual red packets in chat groups.

Its “Weidian” (WeChat Shop) adds another dimension to its functions and understandably, all links leading to its rival, Alibaba’s shopping site Taobao, are blocked on WeChat.

Reports say that 60% of WeChat’s 650 million monthly active users have activated the payment function.

Alipay and WeChat Wallet, which rolled out their in-store payments in 2011 and 2014 respectively, will soon face competition from Apple Pay.

Apple Inc announced last month that it would collaborate with China’s UnionPay, a state-owned bank card issuer, to launch its mobile payment service this year.

By the look of things, the growth of mobile payment and e-commerce in China will make cashless transactions more and more appealing for consumers in China.

@powastick @Nan Yang @CAPRICORN-88 @kuge

@AndrewJin
.
Wechat has to be made more user friendly for the English speaker.

Until then, I am sticking with Whatsapp, sorry!

It's very hard for Wechat to cope with local business in a foreign country because of local protectionism.
I don't think it's easy for overseas version of Wechat to introduce a function called "buy financial products".
Wechat and Alipay has a role as an online bank.
In China, central government tires very hard to suppress opposition from giant banks.

When I traveled abroad, I found English Apps such as What's up and Youtube were very dull. But these apps have dominated local markets. There is no much motivation for Tencent and Baidu to cater to overseas consumers.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

It is now possible to make calls to friends and family living in Hong Kong, India and the U.S. at very low rates.

Why would there need to be a charge? Isn't it all over the internet?
My wife videochats her brother in China using Facetime on their iPads. It doesn't cost anything,

 

[AndrewJin]

Shanghai tops Alipay spending list
SHANGHAI residents spent more on average than those of any other Chinese provincial-level region in 2015 on Alipay, the country’s largest online payment platform, according to a new report.

Average individual spending in the financial hub was 104,155 yuan (US$15,836) on Alipay last year, the highest in the country, according to the report, released yesterday by Ant Financial, Alibaba’s financial service affiliate, which operates Alipay.

Zhejiang Province ranked second, with 94,192 yuan spent per person on average on Alipay, followed by Beijing, and the coastal provinces of Jiangsu and Fujian.

When it comes to total spending on Alipay, coastal provinces and more developed cities still took the lead, with Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shanghai and Beijing rounding out the top five, according to the report.

But China has also witnessed a boom in rural e-commerce, with central and western areas showing higher growth rates than more developed areas. Residents in China’s southwestern and northwestern regions were also more willing to pay via their mobile phones, according to the report.
@Shotgunner51 @GS Zhou @Edison Chen

Why would there need to be a charge? Isn't it all over the internet?
My wife videochats her brother in China using Facetime on their iPads. It doesn't cost anything,

Wechat doesn't charge any money.
Voice/video message, voice/video phones, money transfer, etc, all free.
FaceTime is useless here, first u need an apple product, and it's not a user-friendly function. It also chews up too much data.

 

[scherz]

I am definitely not a fan of WeChat. Every time i start it this annoying loading page appears. It takes only 1,5s i know but its very short but still too long because i am used to Whatsapp and Telegramm that they have almost no loading time if you open them. If i got a message i open it and there it is. But this WeChat... holy FÜkk! Also its too overloaded for my opinion.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

FaceTime is useless here, first u need an apple product, and it's not a user-friendly function. It also chews up too much data.

You don't have unlimited data on your WiFi?

 

[Edison Chen]

WeChat is not just a communication app, if you live in the west, it's useless, if you're in China, you can't live without it. You can use Wechat to transfer money instead of wire transfer of banks, you can also pay the fees of water, electricity, Internet and phones, and what it surprises me most is that many restaurants in Beijing accept Wechat payment, even very small restaurant in remote areas. Wechat is definitely a revolution. Now my company uses Wechat as official communication tool, when there is any information to deliver among different departments, we use Wechat.

 

[Dungeness]

Shanghai tops Alipay spending list
SHANGHAI residents spent more on average than those of any other Chinese provincial-level region in 2015 on Alipay, the country’s largest online payment platform, according to a new report.

Average individual spending in the financial hub was 104,155 yuan (US$15,836) on Alipay last year, the highest in the country, according to the report, released yesterday by Ant Financial, Alibaba’s financial service affiliate, which operates Alipay.

Zhejiang Province ranked second, with 94,192 yuan spent per person on average on Alipay, followed by Beijing, and the coastal provinces of Jiangsu and Fujian.

When it comes to total spending on Alipay, coastal provinces and more developed cities still took the lead, with Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shanghai and Beijing rounding out the top five, according to the report.

But China has also witnessed a boom in rural e-commerce, with central and western areas showing higher growth rates than more developed areas. Residents in China’s southwestern and northwestern regions were also more willing to pay via their mobile phones, according to the report.
@Shotgunner51 @GS Zhou @Edison Chen




Wechat doesn't charge any money.
Voice/video message, voice/video phones, money transfer, etc, all free.
FaceTime is useless here, first u need an apple product, and it's not a user-friendly function. It also chews up too much data.

You guys spent twice as much as China's per capital GDP on Alipay alone? Something doesn't add up.

 

[AndrewJin]

You don't have unlimited data on your WiFi?

I mean outside!
But I know in a lot of western countries, wifi has limit data. In China, no limit at all. Mine is 100mb, 720 yuan per year.

 

[AndrewJin]

I am definitely not a fan of WeChat. Every time i start it this annoying loading page appears. It takes only 1,5s i know but its very short but still too long because i am used to Whatsapp and Telegramm that they have almost no loading time if you open them. If i got a message i open it and there it is. But this WeChat... holy FÜkk! Also its too overloaded for my opinion.

R u using a different wechat?

 

[AndrewJin]

You guys spent twice as much as China's per capital GDP on Alipay alone? Something doesn't add up.

Check Shanghai's GDP. And not all people use alipay. My mother and my father don't(My mother is learning now). According to alipay's 2015 report, I spent 40000yuan via alipay. And I have *^%^* yuan in alipay's fixed account and current deposit account， with 5% and 2.7% interest respectively. (Interest rate varies daily) I don't have a single yuan in any bank.