WeChat gets v6.0 update, adds in Vine-like videos and Passbook-style wallet

WeChat gets a v6.0 update today – only on iOS so far – that adds in two useful new features. But, as often happens with WeChat, one of these is restricted to its China-based users.

The new WeChat feature open to everyone is Vine-like short videos called Sight. This is available in both personal messages and the more public WeChat Moments. In either case, you’re limited to a six-second video. If it’s sent as a message, it autoplays rather like a Vine video or a GIF. It looks like this:

WeChat previously had video sharing of unlimited size, though the resultant large file sizes made it a slow and problematic upload. Perhaps the Tencent (HKG:0700) team noticed nobody was using it, so this Vine-like update should make videos a more popular medium.

More mobile wallet features

The other major new feature for WeChat is Passbook-style storage for things like store loyalty cards, prepaid cards, and plane tickets. As with most of WeChat’s ecommerce-focused features, it’s limited to users in China who are using the Chinese version of the app. It doesn’t appear for me with my phone set to English. It’s called the equivalent of Card Wallet in Chinese.

The pre-existing mobile wallet section of WeChat now gets long overdue security options with the ability to set a passcode.

WeChat first started to venture into mobile commerce in the summer of 2013, adding in payments for mobile games and stickers. Since then it has gradually added online shopping features, cash transfers, in-store mobile payments for selected storefront retailers, and a money-market fund that generates interest on deposits. It’s part of Tencent’s battle against Alibaba, which operates China’s top mobile epayments app, Alipay Wallet.

Elsewhere in the update, WeChat’s social gaming center got a facelift to make it tidier.

The WeChat v6.0 update for Android will likely follow soon.

WeChat has 438 million monthly active users, according to the latest numbers revealed by Tencent.