Not having any problems on my laptop or US phone. Maybe check your phone connection?

When/if wx is blocked in the US, I'll be sure to let you guys know. Thus far, I've had no issues communicating with my mom, who is the opposite of tech savvy.

A couple of things. If WeChat is blocked, believe me, it'll be headlines around the world.

Why are you using WeChat to talk to your mom? Does FaceTime work in China? If so, you should use it and you'll get encryption. I never tried FaceTime in China, but I recalled iMessage worked for me before.

I'm pretty sure you were just experiencing some technical issue. If WeChat is blocked, I guarantee you that it'll be headlines around the world.

TikTok have like 85-90 million users in the US. WeChat have about 1.5 million users in the US. Massive difference.

MSFT have long wanted something similar to YouTube. They missed the boat with mobile and social media. This is a chance for them to get into the game, but I'm not sure what TikTok's staying power will be like. For all we know, this could be a fad. I know MSFT have success with LinkedIn though.

I think India's problems with China is far bigger than the US. Whether we agree with the decision or not, India is clearly not afraid of challenging China despite being the weaker power.

LMAO!

TikTok and WeChat are two different platforms serving different needs. I'm not sure how you can even say TikTok is well positioned to top WeChat.

I'm probably too old for TikTok. I played with it for about a minute and I uninstalled it from my phone. It's like SnapChat. I have no use for that app either.

Again, they're two different platforms serving different audiences. Maybe I'm missing something here, but I don't see how you can draw such a conclusion.

I happen to work in this space, and Tiktok most certainly wants to topple Wechat.
-they have a sizable user base
-expanding into messaging is not difficult
-Wechat has become a bit tired, and has already had a 9 year run (i.e. longer than MSN during its heyday)
-that having been said, Tencent has A LOT more capital at its disposal, and continues to add new features to Wechat

1. We've been using Wechat for years
2. Facetime certainly works with VPN, but I didn't want to overload my mom with apps
3. I actually don't think wx will get killed in the US, but if it does, I think switching to a different app is probably easier than walking mom through the VPN process

At this point in time, TikTok is mostly video right? WeChat is more than just messaging as you know. If TikTok wants to be the next WeChat, it's going to take years and massive amount of investment to get there. At the end of the day, if TikTok builds it, will the users come? If you're in WeChat, what do you gain by going to TikTok?

Will FaceTime work without VPN in China?

[QUOTE=lsquare;32603500]At this point in time, TikTok is mostly video right? WeChat is more than just messaging as you know. If TikTok wants to be the next WeChat, it's going to take years and massive amount of investment to get there. At the end of the day, if TikTok builds it, will the users come? If you're in WeChat, what do you gain by going to TikTok?[/QUOTE]

1. Yes, Tiktok is mostly video, but expanding their messaging capabilities is pretty easy
2. Payment, which requires bank integration plus infrastructure, is a much larger hurdle
3. Completely replicating Wechat would certainly require a lot of investment, but they don't need to everything at once
4. The user base is already pretty solid; I'm not a fan, but kids seem to love it, and my clients want to engage them as they get older
5. Personally, I see no obvious advantages to Tiktok from a user standpoint; it just happens to be a hot product
6. Wechat was not appreciably different from QQ when it first launched (same source code, even). However, people gravitated towards it because it was new

I don't think so, but I'm not positive because I don't have it installed currently. My backups are Hangouts and Whatsapp, both of which require VPN. I prefer Wechat because the voice quality is better.

FaceTime is pre-installed on both iOS and macOS. It is not available on any other OS.

Thanks for the tip. I don't have an iPhone, and I rarely use my Mac. Mom is droid only, so I've been trying to think of ways to make this as easy as possible for her in the event wx is actually blocked in the US. VPN setup would likely drive her bonkers, so Hangouts might be the best bet.

I guess I'll have to test out FaceTime next time I'm back in China then. My thinking is that if iMessage worked, FaceTime should work as well.

At least during the two years I was in Shanghai, FaceTime worked fine either with or without a VPN. I had regularly scheduled sessions weekly with my family back in the US.

FaceTime works fine in china. The obvious issue is that both parties need to be on the Jobs/Cook train.

Most people in my circle are using iPhones. It's not an issue for me. Although I'm unique in my group as I carry two phones (iPhone and Pixel).

FaceTime and iMessage work fine in China without VPN. For my customers in Europe and USA who have trouble with WeChat, iMessage and FaceTime are our fallback app.

WeChat, on the other hand, does not like non-Chinese IPs, speeds slow down. If I am using my VPN and someone calls (or worse yet, video calls) me on WeChat, I often have to turn off my VPN to get better internet speeds.

And when I'm in the US or Germany, on wifi, sending big files or videos by WeChat takes a long time. Still usable, just slow.

Turns out it was something strange on my phone. After closing everything and starting it up again it worked. Strange as it had rebooted only hours earlier due to an update.

That happens to me quite a bit after iphone updates. I close the app on my phone and PC, open the phone app and then the laptop and it works fine. For whatever reason, this can even occur after iphone updates which are not for wechat.

Having to teach my girlfriends parents how to use a VPN is not going to be fun...

I'm hopeful that you (and me) won't have to educate our elders on VPN. My gut tells me that this issue is now "yesterday's news".

But, if push comes to shove, I will simply migrate to a different platform instead of attempting to walk mom through the VPN drill. Even if we were to get it set up properly (probably with the assistance of someone local to her), she lacks the patience to deal with customer support when things go bad.

iPhone just work. My dad was a non-believer until he tried. He hasn't looked back since. Since it's been confirmed that iMessage and FaceTime works in China, this is a no-brainer.

TikTok in the US might be a kids thing, but TikTok in China is huge outside of the tier 1 cities. WeChat is getting steamrolled and you know they're worried because they've tried multiple times to duplicate TikTok within WeChat but it's been a failure every single time. WeChat duplicating TikTok is pretty much the same as Microsoft/Google trying to duplicate Facebook, in vain.

Facebook and Instagram is looking to copy some of Tiktok's features.

It's never going to work. You have to throw away the existing Social connections if you want this thing to succeed.

In theory, it could work, but I like your MS example. In light of the fact that Tencent hasn't pulled this off yet, I give long odds to FB during the medium term.

Hi, all. It appears that Tencent has seriously upped its censorship recently. I still want to keep our group active because it remains an incredibly useful resource for anyone who finds themselves in a jam or simply wants restaurant suggestions (fbm might be similar in terms of functionality, but it isn't widely used here). That having been said, posts that pertain to taboo topics (growing list) will not be seen by others. As such, if we want to talk about things like Vs, it's imperative that we develop a new lingo. This presumably isn't so important for one-to-one conversations, but is for largish groups and moments if you have a lot of friends.

Slightly off topic, but I would like to receive visual but not sound notifications from Wechat of new messages. I haven't found any way to do it. When I had sound messages activated. I have OnePlus6 Android phone and a Samsung tablet. I am in the US and when the sound notifications on Wechat were activated I would be getting messages at times such as 2 a.m., which was very annoying.

If the in-app WeChat settings aren't cutting it for you, go play around in your operating system settings:
Settings > Apps & notifications > App info > WeChat > App notifications > (choose a category) > Importance > Medium: No sound

And if it's night time messages that are the issue, go to Me, Settings, do not disturb, turn on the toggle switch, and specify the hours when you don't want any notifications.

I usually mute notifications for specific groups/posters only. The groups can be particularly annoying if they have lots of activity, and some people like to give me a play-by-play of their entire day (e.g. I'm getting ready to have lunch at Shake Shack now).

Originally Posted by Cryofern View Post"If the in-app WeChat settings aren't cutting it for you, go play around in your operating system settings:
Settings > Apps & notifications > App info > WeChat > App notifications > (choose a category) > Importance > Medium: No sound"

My WeChat app notifications gives me different options than yours. I do have the option to show "notification dot" which I haven't seen before, which is what I think I am looking for. I am leaving on voice and video call invitations, which probably means my phone will ring if I get a call, which is something I want to happen. Thanks much to you and plunet.

If there are people who you want to be able to call you any time, simply don't mute their notifications. For others, I prefer to schedule Wechat phone calls in advance because I don't want my phone ringing when I'm in a meeting or at the gym. Even if you mute notifications, you can see who's messaged or tried to call you ask often as you like.

All I want to do is simply have a dot appear on my home screen in the way my text messaging works. I am attaching screenshots showing my system that doesn't appear to work that way.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...eb0520e145.jpg
Message notification has important category, but I can't do anything with it. Don't see why I can't simply choose to have dot notifications of messages and not sound notifications.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...11fabf3098.jpg
Chats screen doesn't seem to have a messaging option on my system like it appears to have on yours.