WhatsApp or WeChat? World War W

As much as we live in a generation of smartphones, it’s hard to tell whether these devices are a lifestyle or an assignment. The enthusiasm for powerful handhelds goes hand in hand with aspirations of staying updated and in touch with everybody else. That being the case, SMS and calls will never again be the ultimate communication tools instead, probably Whatsapp or Wechat might be. Although there are numerous other messaging applications, these two have perhaps the biggest traction of all apps.  So which of them is the actual king of messaging?

Platform-wise

If you run any version of Android, iOS, Symbian and Blackberry OS released after 2010, on your smartphone, then you can run both WhatsApp and WeChat. Both of them are natively supported on the stock firmware and can even be run on modified versions of these operating systems. However, their limitations start to show with increasing screen size as both of them are quite in the desktop department. This could be a factor of operating system since WhatsApp only runs via third party applications while WeChat relies on the desktop browser.

Feature-wise

1.       Communication

Both WeChat and WhatsApp allow you to send pictures, texts, videos, audio clips, location data and contact details. WhatsApp tries to be unique by allowing users to chat in groups of up to 30 people and comes embedded with tons of Emoji. WeChat however features live chat, video calls and QR activated group chats besides allowing users to interact and make new friends randomly.

2.       Data Use

Although the two messaging apps are very data efficient, excluding some instances of buggy updates, the efficiency depends on the user. WhatsApp is a real time messaging engine that has no offline mode, while WeChat is more of a social network that can be disconnected need be. With the log out feature therefore, WeChat can save on data resources. It is however much bigger, as an app, than WhatsApp hence will require more megabytes to download

3.       Security

Both WhatsApp and WeChat authenticate using a mobile phone number and have access to the phone’s contact list to find other reachable friends. On WeChat, security is beefed up through prior friend approvals and use of unique user names in place of actual phone numbers.

4.       Backup

On WhatsApp, conversations are stored on a daily basis and can be manually backed up and transferred to a new device while on iOS and Blackberry you can just mail yourself the chat history. WeChat takes backup to another level by allowing server backups of up to 7 days as well as universal chat history transfer to other devices.

Popularity-wise

WhatsApp is arguably the most common name among smartphone users, excluding China that is, but WeChat has a more or less bigger audience than WhatsApp.

Verdict

WhatsApp and WeChat are both great messaging applications with great features. The former remains the app to have if you intend to maintain your current crop of friends. WeChat on the other hand is the app you need to try if you’d like to connect with new people and enjoy more features.