In China, a new app is taking on WeChat

The new app’s logo.

WeChat, China’s ubiquitous messaging app with over a billion users, has a challenger.

Launched August 20, the brand-new app is Bullet Messenger (our translation of original name “Zidan Duanxin”). It’s taking a shot at China’s virtually monopolistic messaging app sector, where Tencent’s WeChat commands 86 percent of China’s social media app users.

Bullet Messenger has surged rapidly to be the most downloaded free app on Apple’s China App Store within four days, according to data from app analytics firm App Annie.

Run by startup Kuairu with backing from Chinese smartphone maker Smartisan, the newly minted messenger is already turning investors’ heads. It closed its first funding round today at US$22 million, announced Smartisan founder Luo Yonghao on Weibo.

No frills

Bullet’s no-frills interface is reminiscent of WeChat from the early 2010s, which focused exclusively on chatting. Over the years, WeChat has morphed into an all-in-one app that lets users complete an array of daily tasks from hailing rides to paying utility bills.

WeChat used to pay in a store. Photo credit: Tencent

But Bullet Messenger may also get more sophisticated over time. The app is already mulling a partnership with Alibaba’s Alipay, said Luo. Since digital payment has become an integral part of Chinese life, the tie-up would come in handy as it goes up against WeChat.

Luo, however, wrote in his Weibo post that Bullet “is not intending to challenge WeChat.”

“It’s unrealistic to uninstall WeChat,” he admitted. Instead, the newcomer aims to carve out a niche for people who “care about efficient communication.”

Despite its immense popularity, WeChat has been criticized for being cumbersome in handling messages. Chatter on Chinese social media says that Bullet Messenger has solved some of the most vexing problems of WeChat.

One selling point is its voice-to-text function. Bullet Messenger automatically transcribes people’s speech and includes the original clip underneath the sent text. It also lets users slide along the audio’s progress bar in case they want to listen back.

On WeChat, one needs to click on the audio clip to have it transcribed. One can’t fast forward within the clip either, which can make 60-second-long voice messages daunting.