Is QQ obsolete?

[abcdefg]

Seems I'm always arriving late to the party. Finally installed QQ last year after holding out against it for half a decade. Contacted most of my Chinese friends and added their names and numbers. After a brief flurry of activity, it seems most of them never log on any more, and have pretty much abandoned QQ for other chat clients such as Weixin 微信。

 

Has anyone else noticed less QQ activity in recent months? Have you and your Chinese friends gone over to 微信？The 微信 versions I've found for Android phones have an exclusively Chinese user interface, and that makes me wonder about ease of use.

 

Is it as difficult as it looks? Am I now going to have to figure it out in order to stay connected over here? I'm not fond of these damned social networking tools in any language, but will take the plunge if I must.

[langxia]

Weixin in English is called Wechat and has an English interface. They are making a lot of advertisement in Europe at the moment.

About QQ, well it is the same company that also makes Wechat. Most of my friends use both, QQ on the computer and Wechat for when you are on the road or when the computer is off. I still use both.

[abcdefg]

Most of my friends use both, QQ on the computer and Wechat for when you are on the road or when the computer is off. I still use both.

Langxia, do you use the Android version on your phone? It sure gets a lot of bad reviews at the Google Play store. Has your experience been better?

 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tencent.mm

[langxia]

Yep I also use the Android version since a week or two. Didn't run in any problems since I use it. (Samsung Galaxy 3 Mini) It seems that most of the comments are from right after updating to a new version that might be a reason why there are a lot of bad reviews. Cause if you look at the number it got 4.3/5 it seems that most people that write comments are the ones that run into problems.

[Ludens]

I guess QQ gets used less and less in favour of 微信. I stopped using QQ half a year ago myself.

[tooironic]

The OP is correct. WeChat is steadily overtaking QQ, similar to what happened with ICQ and MSN. The only difference is WeChat and QQ happen to have been developed by the same company, Tencent.

[ZhangKaiRong]

WeChat was started to became popular in the second half of 2012. I guess most young Chinese who have smartphones and QQ also have WeChat, and they tend to use it more frequently. It is what we call "trend rules". Most of my friends in their 20s use WeChat on daily basis and rarely use QQ, those in their 30s (or early 40s) might have WeChat and QQ at the same time, but they solely use QQ.

 

And don't be afraid, 微信 supports a decent amount of languages right now, after downloading it you can just change the language in the options, and everything will be in English. But it isn't too hard to use the application in Chinese, so you can have a try

[ChTTay]

Most of my friends use Wechat on mobiles but still use QQ on laptops/computers. Also, you can send messages between the two chat programs.

[abcdefg]

Thanks for all the replies. Sounds like I need to get with the program and begin using it.

[tooironic]

The best thing about WeChat is it's really easy to send voice messages. QQ can do that but not all versions of it support it very well. Its "moments" feed is also very easy to use if that's the sort of thing you're into. WeChat groups are also more user-friendly and intuitive than QQ groups too IMO.

[Demonic_Duck]

微信 is a fantastic app, better than What's App. And yeah, you can easily get it in English (plus, it's intuitive enough that the Chinese version's probably usable no matter what your level).

[Meng Lelan]

I was able to install WeChat on my iPhone but for some reason couldn't get the Chinese interface, must have done something wrong. 

[simpleasy]

I'm using both at the moment. When talking with some people, I only use wechat, with others I only use QQ.

I have some friends outside china whom I chat with too (obviously), and I was really disappointed when they started using whatsapp in favor of skype. I'm not able to have decent online conversations with them anymore, because of my inability to type decently on a mobile phone. (maybe 10 words per minute on a phone versus 100 words per minute on a computer)

So I was worried when my Chinese friends started to ask me to use wechat instead of QQ. Eventually I gave in to their begging, and installed the app. To my great surprise I discovered that there was actually an option to connect wechat to your web browser on your computer, temporarily.

Just go to http://web.wechat.com and scan the QR code. You can then perfectly chat in your browser, until you either close your browser or choose to disconnect on your phone. It works like a charm and I don't have to give up my love for my mechanical keyboard!

[skylee]

I have a WeChat account,and have installed and uninstalled it twice. Nobody I know uses it. All my friends use WhatsApp and Line and Viber and Tango and even Hangouts. Nobody I know uses WeChat!!!

I think Hangouts is ok as it can be used on PCs by simply logging on to gmail. Line is wonderful, and it has a PC version too. I will stop using Whatsapp the moment it starts charging me.

[Demonic_Duck]

Where do you live skylee? In mainland China (at least 'round my neck of the woods), pretty much everyone has 微信/wechat. I must admit though, it seems like it hasn't caught on in the anglophone world yet. I don't know of any friends back home using it.

[skylee]

I live in HK. My friends don't use WeChat mainly because 1) of privacy concerns because it is a Chinese service, and 2) their friends don't use WeChat anyways as other alternatives are widely available.

Regarding privacy I personally think it is a moot point. Google already knows everything in my life, and the powerful US Government has given itself the rights to take whatever info it likes. Not using a Chinese service however gives us a false sense of security. And for the same reason I don't use China-based cloud storage or similar services.

[deathtrap]

Do WeChat and WeiXin share the same network? Will I find the same people on both?

[skylee]

WeChat is the English name of 微信.

[abcdefg]

Since what I want to use it for is staying connected with my existing friends here in China, not trolling for new 网友 or chatting with people back in America, choice of the best app seems to hinge on what those Chinese friends prefer to use.

 

So far, at least here in Kunming this year, lots of them say they have QQ and give me their number, but they seldom log on to it and increasingly use 微信 instead. And if I read most of this thread correctly, others who reside on the China Mainland have found pretty much the same thing. 

 

I think I can live with QQ on my computer and 微信 on my phone. At least I will give it a try.

 

I realize these things are a lot like other trends, as mentioned by someone else above. Next year's clothing fashions will be different, and chat clients may change too.

[Meng Lelan]

So what's your experience so far? I'm asking because today someone asked me if I have QQ (which I don't).