WeChat comes with short videos in response to Chinese counterpart TikTok

The Chinese app WeChat will soon have a feature to share short videos. Those videos come in a feed that users can consult. Parent company Tencent is responding to the popularity of Douyin, the app that is called TikTok in the rest of the world.

Tencent confirms the move to Bloomberg, but does not elaborate further. A private test is underway with a limited number of users. The intention is that users will make videos for each other. That differs from TikTok and Douyin, where general publication is the goal.

Users can upload the short videos, after which they can appear in a feed with their contacts. According to Bloomberg, Tencent has tried several times to formulate an answer to the popularity of Douyin, including with separate apps. The feed currently focuses on posts and photos.

WeChat is China’s most popular chat app, with over a billion users. Besides chatting, the app performs many more functions, including mobile payment, shopping and much more. It also works as an identifier in China.