Top 10 Most Popular Apps in China

The Chinese people love their apps! Whether it is for ordering food, finding a cab, finding directions, accessing Wi-Fi and so on, there seems to be an app for just about anything. If you are visiting there for the first time, you need to know the top apps in China.

Mobile apps make life much easier. In a vast land like China, you can face some barriers if you are a tourist. However, in this age, you just need to know the most important apps to leverage your stay or your business. These apps have millions of users, so they are pretty cool and safe.

When you are in China, you cannot live without these ten apps. China is one of the most tech-savvy countries in the world, apps are important for business as well as daily survival. When looking for a dope app China, start with the ones below:

1. WeChat

WeChat unarguably deserves the number one spot in this list because it is pretty much the all-in-one app. It is mainly a social media app, but as many people discover after a short time of using it, it can do much more than that. Like any other communication app, WeChat is safe. It has password protection so unless you give your password to a person, they cannot access it.

Established in 2011, this app has continued to grow in leaps and bounds. If this is the first time that you are reading about it, think of WhatsApp competitor. That can give you an idea of what it is all about. It is not reserved for use in China alone as millions of people around the world have it.

You can look forward to features such as instant messaging, video calling, photo and video sharing and many more. You can use this app on your mobile as well as on your desktop computer or laptop.

The interface is not that easy to grasp, but for any tech-savvy mobile user, getting acquainted is not a problem. WeChat is available for all popular mobile platforms, including for desktop computers.

What we like

• Many communication features including video
• Works on all mobile technologies
• Free forever

What we don’t like

• The user interface is a bit complicated

2. AliPay- Top App China

The Alipay app is to China what PayPal is to America! It is one of the most popular apps and there are many reasons for that. It is as good as cash when you are shopping.

Also called Zhifubao in China, you cannot live without this app. You will use it for paying for meals in restaurants, pay for cab service, buy goods online, pay your rent and do much more. It is a free app and it is compatible with the popular mobile technologies or even desktops. In your mobile, it occupies minimal resources.

This is the ideal shopping app in the world. The main benefit of the app is that you are going to get a free escrow service. Your funds are held in escrow when you are buying goods. After you verify the goods, the payment is released.

Alibaba owns this app. That explains its popularity in China and many countries in Asia.

What we like

• There are no transaction fees locally
• Has hundreds of millions of users, even businesses in China alone
• It is easy to set the app up

What we don’t like

• Transaction fees for overseas cards

3. QQ

Hitting 20 years in 2019 since the QQ app went into market; you can see why it is one of the most important apps in China. It is an instant messaging app. This app has some history too. For example, in 2002, they decided to start charging users a fee. They reversed the decision in 2003. Today, this app has a wide base of users, approaching 1 billion.

Among the outstanding features of the Tencent-owned QQ app China include the translation feature. It supports languages such as English, Korean, German, Spanish, Japanese and French. Furthermore, this app can translate messages into more than 50 languages instantly. This helps make communication easy between communities.

Although the multi-language QQ app was released in 2017, it has become very popular over the short time it has been in service.

What we like

• This app comes in many versions for Windows, android, iPhone and others
• You can use this app for transferring large files
• It is good for connecting with family and friends in China
• Takes minimal resources in your device

What we don’t like

• Some users complain that they cannot add contacts from their phone

 

4. Taobao

When you have eBay and Amazon in the US, you have TaoBao in China. This is an eCommerce app that is designed to be used on a C2C (consumer-to-consumer) basis. It is large and by 2018, it had more than 600 million users.

You can list items for sale on this eCommerce site. You can sell at fixed prices, or you can create an auction where people bid on the items. With a turnover of more than $400 billion in 2017, this is one of the largest eCommerce sites in the world. Whether you are selling or buying, you can be sure you will be connected to millions other people.

Because TaoBao is a shopping app China, you are actually connected to hundreds of online stores. You can use this app for your fashion, electronics and other items shopping. Domestic shipping rates are lower and most of the sellers on this app sell their goods at super cheap prices.

What we like

• Large variety of items at very affordable prices
• Incredibly cheap domestic shipping rates
• Light app, does not consume much of your resources
• Simple to set the app up and start using

What we don’t like

• Not good for international buyers
• Many fake item sellers lately

 

5. Baidu

You can think of Baidu as a customized Google because it helps you meet so many needs. It is the biggest search engine in China and ranks number two in the world. It’s one of the top apps in China that you must have to enjoy your stay there.

If you are traveler in China, you should get Baidu immediately. First, it has Baidu Maps, similar to you know what … and it will help you get around easily.  There are thousands of features, some made for communities, some for love and some for specialized searches. For example, Baidu Government Search enables you to find government information at the tap of a finger.

Baidu Youa allows you to sell and buy wares and interact with business communities. Baidu Knows is for finding answers to questions you might have. Just post your question and a community of users will answer you.

What we like

• This is practically the one-stop-center for everything
• You can perform customized searches on this search engine
• The Baidu app is compatible with many mobile platforms
• Millions of users daily

What we don’t like

• Nothing really, this is a cool mobile app

 

6. WiFi Master Key – One of the Top Apps in China

WiFi Master Key, now called WiFi master is one of the most prolific peer to peer file transfer in China. Simply said, the P2P community would never be the same without this app. It is the third largest software app in China and fifth in the list of most downloaded apps in the world. With its user base approaching 1 billion, you can be sure you can find any type of file on this app.

WiFi Master has many robust features. The first one and the most obvious one is a feature that helps you find any WiFi connections around you. It will list the available WiFis within your location and it will show you a connect button.

Because of its robust WiFi connectivity features, this app has been helping millions of people around the world access free WiFi. It is easy to download. It is also compatible with all mobile technologies. There is no need to worry about security. This app assures you of security before, during and after connecting to free WiFi.

What we like

• So easy to use, simplest user interface
• Has a newsfeed so you can find trending content once you are online
• Has important WiFi tools like speed test and signal test built-in to the app

What we don’t like

• There are really no disadvantages

 

7. Douyin (TikTok)

Created in 2017, TikTok has been winning hearts in China. Today, this top app China boasts a user base of more than 500 million users. So what is it and what does it do?

First, it is a user-friendly video editing app. Secondly; it is also a video sharing app. Just imagine having the power of audio and visual in your hands. You can also edit short audio tracks and then share them with friends and family. Since the videos and tracks that you post appear on the feed, you can create an audience fast.

As soon as you open this app, you get right into your entertainment. The videos on the feed start playing immediately. Since the videos don’t have play or pause buttons, you can be sure that your audience is viewing your videos to the end. Now, imagine what that means if you do short marketing videos.

China takes good care of her children. That is why all of their apps have parental control measures. For example, Douyin has features for allowing a parent to set the time that their child can spend on different types of content.

What we like

• Incredible user-friendly interface
• Videos start to play immediately you open the app
• Allows a content creator to make and share videos on the move

What we don’t like

• TikTok has been accused of censoring users’ content but nothing was proved

8. iQiyi

You can’t write about the top apps in China without reviewing the iQiyi app, which is one of the most popular apps for watching drama movies from Asia. You will get many shows that you cannot get anywhere else. This has made people to refer to this app as the Netflix of China. Recently, they have released other versions of the app targeted at countries such as the USA.

This is a high quality free app. However, you may have to subscribe to some services to access some shows, which is quite in order. Be careful with the subscription fee when you buy from iTunes or Google Play because it puts you on automatic subscription. It works on android and iPhone mobile technology. You can also catch your favorite shows from Asia on your iPad.

It is easy to use this streaming app. Just download it to your mobile and soon after, you can be watching some of the available shows from China.

What we like

• Provides auto-translated subtitles (this is a double-edged sword – check the cons)
• Lots of free shows, might not be the popular ones, but it is a start
• Best UX – No need to be a whizz kid to use this app

What we don’t like

• Subtitles are in very thin characters, quite an eyesore

 

9. Tencent/QQ Video

With more than 90 million paid subscribers in China by 2019, you can see just how popular this app is. Tencent or QQ video is a streaming app that has more than 500 million mobile users.

The fact that Tencent is the owner of two other huge platforms – WeChat and QQ makes this streaming app ever so popular. Combined, the user base of the Tencent company is more than 2 billion.

Simplicity is the second name of Tencent Video. You just need to download the app and a short time later; you will be enjoying yourself to the full. You can access many high quality shows from Asia. You can also access sports news, dramas, world and Chinese news and even micro-movies. All things considered, this app might be even more robust than iQiyi.

One important thing to note is that this app generates money for its users through adverts. Therefore, you should expect several of these on your videos. But watching videos is not the only thing offered on this platform. You can also create and upload your videos free of charge.

What we like

• Allows you to create and share videos
• Very simple user interface
• You may watch the videos online or download them to watch on your computer

What we don’t like

• Most videos are not available outside China

10. Toutiao – One of the top apps in China

Content marketing is big anywhere in the world. Today, we have seen many content marketing apps and Toutiao is among the very best. The reason for making this claim is that you can customize the content that you get. That way, only the content that matches your needs appears on your feed. With such customization options, it is little wonder that this is one of the top app China options.

While many people interpret content to mean articles, well, Toutiao brings you much more. They have a lot of video content. The reason why there is so much content is because Toutiao does not create its content. It allows third party content creators to upload their content. On the other end, it allows consumers to access this content based on their needs.

What we like

• This is a platform for content marketing alone so there are no other distractions
• Target audience is 30 years and younger which creates excellent marketing chances
• There are millions of videos and articles on the app

What we don’t like

• Videos may not have subtitles

In Conclusion

China leads in many fronts and one of them is in technology. Therefore, you get many top apps in China to help with just about anything. From shopping apps, entertainment apps, content apps and search apps, there is a mobile app for just about anything. Hopefully, with our options for top app China, you can get all that you need to meet all of your needs while in this vast country.