What Chinese personal productivity software app has no counterpart in the USA?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43628335

by nopmat • 1 year ago

10 5 1 year ago

news.ycombinator.com

0x6A75616E2• 1 year ago

WeChat. And let me explain why. I'll stick with technology and usability and leave politics aside.

They've integrated literally everything with wc. Going to an event? Amusement park? Metro ride? Flight? Restaurant booking? The hospital? You guessed it. WeChat. Every place has a QR code (they've also have a custom QR code format they support) and any business/individual can set up to receive payments, reservations, form data, or literally anything else that can be built as a web app. There's no secret sauce to how it's done; WeChat allows you to "install" web based apps inside wechat and integrates your profile and payment abilities with it.

If you want to set up a point-of-sale device to receive payments here you have to get something like Square, and set up an account, and you often need special equipment, etc. Not a great UX. With WeChat, everybody already has their payment profile linked up, so you just show your QR code, people pay, you get notified, and you're all set.

It's not the best built app, though. It's glitchy, and the web-based stuff is slow. The Chinese are great at many things, but UI design/UX isn't one of them haha. It seems to work, though, and I can only imagine the gargantuan amount of payment events their infra handles. Probably many millions per second.

aurareturn• 1 year ago

  It's not the best built app, though. It's glitchy, and the web-based stuff is slow. The Chinese are great at many things, but UI design/UX isn't one of them haha.

This is probably due to the limitation of iOS?

0x6A75616E2• 1 year ago

It's the same on Android.

singmj• 1 year ago

“浙里办” is a comprehensive mobile application for government services in Zhejiang Province, China. It is based on the integrated platform of the Zhejiang Government Service Network. The name “浙里办” is a homophone for “here to handle” in Chinese, which reflects its purpose of providing convenient online services for residents and businesses.

This app offers a wide range of functions, including “mobile handling,” “mobile consultation,” and “mobile complaints.” It covers numerous services such as social security payment, housing fund withdrawal, traffic violation processing, and even medical appointment booking. For example, people can apply for subsidies, handle business registration, or even find public services like cultural events through the app. It also has a special version for the elderly, making it easier for them to use with features like voice assistance.

As of now, “浙里办” has over 100 million registered users and provides more than 1,500 convenient services. It has become an essential tool for people in Zhejiang to handle various daily and business-related matters efficiently.

In fact, China has many similar provincial applications like “浙里办.” Each province has its own app to provide convenient government services to its residents. For example, Shanghai has “随申办” (Suishenban), Jiangsu has “苏服办” (Sufuban), and Henan has “豫事办” (Yushiban). These apps are designed to make people's lives easier by allowing them to handle government affairs online without having to visit multiple departments in person.

muzani• 1 year ago

Lark is actually pretty good. It has a counterpart - Atlassian, MS Teams, but it's a little better than both of these yet not as good as Slack. (IMHO)

It seems to be a little better at sharing data to external parties as well, which Slack does not do.

What Chinese personal productivity software app has no counterpart in the USA?

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