WeChat has updated its features again.
Recently, many netizens posted on social media that after updating WeChat, unread voice messages are displayed in gray instead of red.
On May 8, a news outlet inquired about this with Tencent’s customer service, and the representative stated that the iOS client is currently rolling out the “Quick Browse Unread Chats” feature in a grayed-out manner. If users haven’t received the grayed-out version yet, they’re advised to wait patiently for the next update. This feature supports quick viewing of all unread chats.
Regarding this change, some netizens expressed that the gray unread voice messages are highly similar to read messages visually, and it’s easy to overlook unread content if one isn’t careful, which may lead to missing important work notifications or friend information. The long-held habit of red reminders has been broken, and the user experience has significantly decreased.
In response to this feedback, Tencent’s customer service stated that the iOS client’s unread message grayed-out feature is still being gradually rolled out and currently doesn’t have a manual switch or early adoption method. It’s recommended to keep WeChat updated to the latest version, and the feature’s experience will be optimized in future updates.
Continuously updating related features is a regular move by WeChat. Previously, the “WeChat Friends Circle” update sparked widespread attention. Some netizens posted on social media that in the iOS 8.0.71 version of WeChat, the text description on the “My Friends Circle” page was moved from the right side of the picture to the top, and the display format of the posting date was also simplified.
Additionally, a “Friends Circle Album” entry was added to the top right corner of the page, supporting browsing of historical dynamics by year/month/day, with a logic similar to Apple’s native album. When playing article audio, a “Raw Text” entry and a “Comment” button were added, allowing users to view the raw text or comments while listening to the audio without needing to switch.
According to the WeChat Open Class public account, WeChat updated 9 features in March, including the ability for WeChat public accounts to initiate “topics”; an increase in the number of short videos that can be published with goods in Video Number, supporting the attachment of “product collections”; the launch of the Video Number small game high-quality author incentive plan; the support for connecting one’s own lobster in WeChat and Enterprise WeChat; the ability to transfer photos/files across devices face-to-face; the ability to directly “preview” compressed packages; the ability to use WeChat to buy tickets for the Seoul subway; the new launch of WeChat Mini Store product labels; and the launch of six new rights and interests for WeChat Mini Store merchants.
WeChat has a massive user base. According to Tencent Holdings’ (00700.HK) 2025 fourth-quarter and full-year financial report, the combined monthly active accounts of WeChat and WeChat reached 1.418 billion.
WeChat has transformed from a single social tool to a comprehensive digital life platform.
According to the latest data released by WeChat Pay, during the Labor Day holiday this year, with the expansion of the “Scan to Pay” feature, it has become an essential skill for entry. The number of transactions using WeChat Pay’s “foreign card binding” increased by 58% year-over-year; the daily average number of times users used small programs increased by 42% year-over-year; and the number of transactions in small programs abroad increased by 52% month-over-month.
WeChat is also becoming a key window for Tencent to boost its performance.
Last year, Tencent’s marketing services business revenue grew 19% year-over-year to 145 billion yuan, mainly due to the growth in advertising prices and exposure. The growth in advertising prices benefited from AI-driven precise advertising, advertisers using AI to create more ads, and the increasing proportion of closed-loop ads (users can directly access small programs, WeChat Mini Stores, or small games after clicking). The growth in exposure was mainly due to the increased participation of users in products such as Video Number and WeChat Search, as well as a slight increase in ad loading rates.
Last year, Tencent’s financial technology and enterprise services business revenue grew 8% year-over-year to 229.4 billion yuan. The financial report stated that financial technology service revenue grew at a high single-digit percentage rate year-over-year, mainly due to the growth in revenue from wealth management services, consumer loan services, and commercial payment activities. Enterprise service revenue grew nearly 20% year-over-year, mainly due to the growth in demand for cloud services (including AI-related services) at home and abroad, as well as the growth in merchant technical service fees driven by the increase in WeChat Mini Store transaction volume.
Last year, Tencent’s revenue reached 751.77 billion yuan, a 14% year-over-year increase; and the company’s net profit attributable to shareholders was 22.4842 billion yuan, a 16% year-over-year increase.
The performance report stated that this was mainly due to the improvement in AI technology, which enhanced the company’s advertising targeting capabilities and player interactions in games, as well as the rapid growth and scale of cloud business profits.
