ABU DHABI // Local users of WeChat expressed relief after the popular text and voice messaging application appeared to be back online.
Last week, users reported problems with the app, which is one of the most widely used in China.
Until Tuesday, the websites for WeChat and another Chinese instant messaging service called QQ could not be accessed, raising concerns among users.
The timing was particularly problematic. With Chinese New Year on Thursday, many were planning on calling home using the app.
Xiaoping Xu, vice chairman of the Chinese Business Council in UAE, said he was glad to see service restored in time for Chinese New Year, after he experienced problems this week.
“I think it’s not convenient for many people. The young people and some old people like to use WeChat because it’s free,” he said of the service disruption.
This week, Jie Lee, a worker with a Chinese company in Dubai who uses WeChat to communicate with friends in Dubai and China, said the app would not work when her mobile device was connected to Wi-Fi, however it could work when she switched to 3G, under her Etisalat data plan.
Ms Jie added she had heard of similar cases from other users.
Twitter users also said they were unable to access the app.
Tencent Holdings Limited, WeChat and QQ’s China-based developers, and Etisalat did not respond to requests for comment.
WeChat has quickly become popular, with the number of users outside of China reported to have grown by more than 1,000 per cent between 2013 and 2014 — according to tech news site ZDNet.
Sherry Liu, a manager at the Royal China restaurant in Dubai, said she uses WeChat and QQ and both apps work “very well”.
“If you have internet, you can use them for free,” she said. “They are popular in all parts of China.”
The growth of services such as WeChat and Skype follow claims of the UAE having some of the highest telecom prices in the world.
Tencent is one of the world’s largest internet companies along with Google, Amazon, Alibaba and eBay.
In late 2013, the company was reported to be worth over US$100 billion (Dh367bn).
esamoglou@thenational.ae
