Tencent brings its popular messaging app to desktops with WeChat for Mac

Promoted as a native Mac client, the desktop edition of WeChat may be a "repackaging" of a previous web-based version

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WeChat for Mac is available for Mac OS X version 10.7. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Published: 7:45pm, 28 Feb 2014Updated: 7:52pm, 28 Feb 2014

Tencent has expanded its reach from mobile phones to desktop computers by officially announcing a native Mac version of WeChat, its popular messaging app.

Announced February 27 on Tencent’s official microblog, WeChat for Mac features both Chinese and English language options and is designed to support Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) and above.

This is not the first time Tencent has dabbled in non-mobile software. A web-based version of WeChat is also available for public use and can sync data from mobile phones.

While similar to its web-based predecessor, WeChat for Mac marks the first time the company has released a specialised, native client of its messaging software intended specificially for use on desktop computers.

The WeChat logo as it appears on Mac desktops. Photo: Tech in Asia

There is currently no official word from Tencent on whether a Windows native client will also be released in the near future.

Users of WeChat for Mac noted that while the software offers satisfactory messaging and file transfer options, it is essentially a “packaged version of the existing web WeChat,” Tech in Asia reported.

“I downloaded this, took one look at it… And all I have to say is, what’s the difference between this one and the web version?” one disgruntled Sina Weibo commentator wrote on Tencent’s microblog.