New Members Colborn Posted November 12, 2020 at 06:34 PM New Members Report Share Posted November 12, 2020 at 06:34 PM Hello I have some online Chinese friends and want to contact them through some other alternatives other than WeChat, since I want to have the (typing...) and (seen / read receipts) included in the chat app. I want to check what applications may be available in China, on Android phones in Play Store. I have found some options from Play Store that have these features -other than Whatsapp and Telegram-, but it is hard to ask someone of my friends in China to keep checking for each app to see if it available and works there. Also, some say that Skype is easily downloaded and some say they download it from an external source, and some seem to have it blocked, any information ? Of course if anyone has any suggestions for chat apps, either in Chinese or in English that works inside and outside China and has these two features, then please go ahead. As that would solve the purpose of the question already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
889 Posted November 12, 2020 at 08:29 PM Report Share Posted November 12, 2020 at 08:29 PM Without a VPN you can't access Google Play in Mainland China. You might be able to extract the .apk of an app and send it to them, though. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawei3 Posted November 13, 2020 at 05:19 PM Report Share Posted November 13, 2020 at 05:19 PM Both Whatsapp and Telegram are blocked in China as well. In terms of social media communication that isn't blocked in China, I think wechat & Tiktok are the only ones that work inside of China without a VPN. Those in China can still log into meeting software like Zoom, but from your note it looks like you're not looking for meeting software. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jannesan Posted November 13, 2020 at 08:18 PM Report Share Posted November 13, 2020 at 08:18 PM when I was in China last year in Summer Signal was still working over there. not sure if that's still the case now 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungouk Posted November 14, 2020 at 01:05 PM Report Share Posted November 14, 2020 at 01:05 PM Hi @Colborn, welcome to the forums. This doesn't answer your question directly, but when I was outside of PRC I used this tool to check accessibility of websites: https://www.comparitech.com/privacy-security-tools/blockedinchina/ But I think the obvious response is: if these people are your friends, why don't you ask them? And maybe more to the point, why don't you use whatever platform they are able to, rather than the other way around? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChTTay Posted November 15, 2020 at 11:52 AM Report Share Posted November 15, 2020 at 11:52 AM 22 hours ago, mungouk said: And maybe more to the point, why don't you use whatever platform they are able to, rather than the other way around? Agree. Seems a bit weird not to use wechat if you want to talk to Chinese friends in China. Mostly as almost nothing else works here ... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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