10 WeChat Mini Programs You Should Check Out

Below is my list of 10 of the best WeChat mini programs (MPs) currently out there. Simply read the descriptions and instructions then scan the codes to check them out. I'm pretty sure no will know all 10. Enjoy...

1. Video WeChat Mini Programs

There are a few decent video MPs out there now. The best one by far though (unsurprisingly) is Tencent Video. Did you know you can watch entire full episodes of Game of Thrones directly in WeChat? Simply scan the code below, type in 'Game of Thrones' into the search bar.

 

Long press the code below and select 'Scan QR Code in Image'

2. Music WeChat Mini Programs

Did you know you can easily listen to a playlist of all music shared on moments by your friends? Open up this mini program 音樂站 (music station) and select the 朋友圈歌曲 (Moments songs) option, see below.

Tip: For MPs playing audio it's a good idea to pin the MP to the top of your chat timeline and leave it playing while you do other things. Select the ... in the top corner and chose 'Add to desktop' to do so.

 

Honorable mention in this category: QQ Music mini program (pic below) is also pretty nice. It works as a personalized radio station playing you tunes that it feels you should like based on your musical preferences and what you have listened to before on QQ music. Type 'QQ' into the search bar on WeChat's mini-programs tab to find it.

3. Free Wi-Fi WeChat Mini Program

This MP allows you to connect to Wifi signals in public places when you might not otherwise be able to. It basically holds a database of wifi passwords across China and is able to connect your device using that information. Use it if you're stuck in a public area and don't fancy burning up your data plan.

 4. Chinese to English Voice Translation Mini Program

Need to tell the taxi driver that you want to go to the club? Too drunk to attempt broken Mandarin. No worries, this one has you covered. Voice recognition in both English and Chinese.

Honorable mention in this category: Tencent Translation King (騰訊翻譯君) works almost identically but also has options for Korean to Chinese and Japanese to Chinese. Copy and paste '騰訊翻譯君' into the search bar on WeChat's mini-programs tab to find it.

5. E-commerce Store Mini Programs

E-commerce is by far the hottest category of mini-programs. In the second half of 2017, it's become increasingly clear that WeChat team are using mini-programs as a way to streamline the buying process on WeChat and fight Taobao/Tmall's dominance in China's e-commerce scene. If you're trying to sell anything on WeChat these days, for sure you should consider using a mini program.

Pinduoduo (above left) is probably the most popular ecommerce MP. It's based around social selling; you can see from the picture above there are 2 buy buttons (pink and red) at the bottom of the product page. Pink is the price to buy directly, red is the price to group buy, i.e. if you find a friend to buy with you over WeChat (above right).

Another great example of WeChat mini program ecommerce stores is Mushroom Street (蘑菇街) which focuses on women's fashion. Mushroom Street is interesting because they use live streaming to demo the products (below right), something that's proved very popular on Taobao.

6. WeChat Index Mini Program

A classic MP, type any term you want to in English or Chinese into the search bar to find out how the term is trending on WeChat. Recent mentions of 'bitcoin' on WeChat below:

7. Group Photo Album Mini Program

Make personalized photo albums for your WeChat groups with this mini program. Simply share it with the group and have people add photos to the album. If you want to come back to it go to the group settings and select 'Mini programs in Chat' to find it again.

The MP even features automatic facial recognition so you can quickly find all the photos of yourself or a friend from a big album.

8. Tourist Destination Audio Guide WeChat Mini Programs

Travelling to a different city on hols? WeChat's got you covered with their brand new city audio guide MPs. Built for the masses of Chinese tourists spreading out across the world but also with English language support.

Scan the code below for the London audio guide MP.

Launched earlier this month for the cities of Dubai, London and Sydney, WeChat has plans to be rolling these out for all the major tourist destinations of the world in 2018 together with the support of local tourism boards.

9. Bike Sharing WeChat Mini Programs

No list of best WeChat mini-programs would be complete without mentioning the bike sharing giants of Ofo and Mobike who both have very popular and convenient offerings. Personally, I rarely bother to use the apps because the MPs are simply faster and easier.

Left: Ofo's mini program / Right: Mobike's

10. Laptop to WeChat File Syncing Mini Program

Our final mini-progam is a complicated one. Entitled 最近文檔隨身 (Recent Files With You) this MP allows you to sync your recently used files on your desktop or laptop through the cloud over to your WeChat.

It does require you to download and install Tencent's security manager program on your desktop however, which is probably too big an ask for most people, but for those willing to do so it's pretty convenient way to ensure that those files you were working on in the office stay with you outside wherever you go to share or refer back to.

What do you think of this list? Do you know of any other useful or interesting WeChat mini programs should be considered for a top 10? Leave us a comment. 

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