WeChat

If you haven't heard of WeChat, you need to seriously keep up with the world. Just like Whatsapp, WeChat is a multimedia messaging platform for mobile phones. But unlike Whatsapp, WeChat is keeping up with the times.

To start, WeChat is stretched to fit the iPhone 5 and Whatsapp is still stuck in medieval times. The Whatsapp window just looks weird. Apart from the fact that it's not utilising the longer screen of the phone, the OCD side of me just find the black patches irk me.

Also, the convenient switch to voice chat only means that I can send a message to a friend who may be driving or cooking. I'm not encouraging texting and driving at the same time but your passenger will be able to just play it for you or sending out a text which requires only a fraction of the effort taking up ONE second at the traffic lights. Not to mention if you're living in very different time zones, you can drop your friend a "voice message" that can be picked up anytime at their convenience.

Being Asian, having emoticons in my messages just add that bit of sparkle and fun. And do you know, that if you send a message with "Happy Birthday" in it, icons of cakes will drop from the top of the screen. It's not a tool of utility but hey, it is interesting. If there are other "codes" that trigger other icons "falling", do inform me!

Whatsapp, you have to pull up your sock before you lose your market share which you have built up over the years... Slowly but surely...

Go download your WeChat now! If you must know... I'm not getting paid a single cent by them...

***Update*** The day after I published this article, the update was out and viola, Whatsapp is catching up! I'm not deleting this as I feel that they still need to improve and the speed done in today's context, is far from acceptable. But well done... For now!