[vtange]

Isn't there inherent risk in centralizing / relying on one app for so many activities? There are already many in the West that try to avoid relying on everything Facebook or Google due to privacy/security concerns. I'm surprised that Chinese are willing to put all their eggs in WeChat's basket, given their belief that American apps spy on their users.

[state]

That's exactly what makes the problem so interesting.

The user experience of WeChat is clearly great, but that level of centralization really wouldn't fly over here.

[apexalpha]

I don't know I don't think people care. Look at Google, the web is, in many parts of the Western world, mostly Google.

Many people, including me, use *.google.com as a one-stop shop for all their software needs.

[anuh]

I think we are used to using multiple apps for different services because that is how it started. However if we were used to using one app for everything, things would have been different

[xbeta]

Is Internet that "One-App-for-Everything"? I saw WeChat is rebuilding its own Internet there. And everything is building on top of that ecosystem.

[chillacy]

I dunno, I'm pretty tied into the Apple ecosystem. I'm only okay with it because they're very principled on privacy, and will probably be around for a long time. But all my photos, contacts, and lots of my data are all with apple. I suspect many users have even more tied up with Google on Android.