buy a movie ticket
- Done<p>check the air quality
- This isn't built into the client, but via accounts you can add. Inferior to a dedicated app which almost everyone has<p>pay for street food
- Done, but scanning a QR code and getting confirmation that's been scanned is more time consuming than handing over a 10 Yuan note and getting change<p>publish articles
- Done. There's also a microblog feature which has far surpassed Weibo, the twitter-like app<p>report an incident to the police
- Not done but see the usefulness. Non-emergency things reported as text could really help police workflow here<p>release an app
- Done. Banking stuff too, and a lot more is coming in 3rd party financial services<p>order groceries
- Done, kinda. Order lunch and get it delivered.<p>connect to Wi-Fi
- Confused. The phone connects to WiFi, WeChat uses the phone's WiFi connection<p>check the queue time for a restaurant
- Not done.<p>open an online store
- Not done. Do you mean use the microblog function to advertise wares; that's common? various middleware linking to escro services etc?<p>add money to your phone plan
- Done. In most cities, all utility bills can be paid.<p>donate to charity
- Well, you can donate/send funds to anyone<p>find a lost child
- Not done<p>become an internet celebrity
- Not done<p>WeChat has achieved a critical mass surpassing even QQ (they're made by the same company). Not through absolute destruction; QQ is still big on both phone and PC while the PC app for WeChat is limited compared to PC-based QQ.<p>I mentioned banking above. While WeChat offers payment services at the moment, it's seen by many as a toy compared to AliPay. This will change over the next 6-12 months as behind the scenes Tencent are courting banks (and others I'm sure, but banking sector is my thing) about advantages WeChat offers, for example tracking success of marketing campaigns - instant 'big data' feedback.<p>Some more things I use WeChat for, almost exclusively.<p>Office circle
- Everyone in my office has to be in a circle where office announcements are made, from at the weekend 'is anyone in, I forget my access card' to sharing teambuilding photos/video instantly to starting a chat between a few people by creating a new group chat<p>International calls
- Video call a colleague in Singapore? Use WeChat and office WiFi. Free and easy.<p>Helpline
- Instant texting, send pictures, video, chat. No 'run in background, share screen' function as far as I know yet, only share via camera. Not technically hard given everything else.<p>Events
- Subscribe to accounts offering new events. I have no idea why Tencent have not yet added calendar functionality.<p>Discount cards/offers
- Shared socially or from subscribed accounts<p>Lucky money
- Like sending money, but randomly distributed. Common for teambuilding<p>LinkedIn/Facebook
- Integrates these services on a very basic level<p>Other stuff that it does:<p>Stickers<p>Look Around
- feature for people nearby that are bored and want to chat/hook up;<p>Shake
- for people 1000s of km away that are bored and want to chat/hook up;<p>Bottle
- feature so if you are bored and want to chat/get something off your chest/hook up you can throw a bottle and someone can reply.<p>--<p>tl/dr At least 30% of smartphone time in China is on WeChat. Often in travel time. But probably not chatting. Reading a post/posts, watching a video someone linked, browsing online shops, it's just in a massive payment & contact-linked type iFrame.<p>A: "What's the first thing you do when you wake up?"
B: "Open my eyes"
A: "The second?"
B: "Check WeiXin."