No matter what era, the distribution of resources between men and women is always uneven, so there has always been a strong demand for social apps for strangers. From the initial WeChat shake, to the accidental making of an appointment with a magic weapon, to the play of direct voice friendship with neighbors, to solve the distribution of male and female friends and various emotional problems, strangers have been making friends with tools for generations.
To commemorate the Valentine's Day that just passed, today I will give a horizontal review of WeChat, Momo and Bilin, the old, middle-aged and young stranger dating apps, and talk about their similarities and differences, advantages and disadvantages.
The object of horizontal review is their latest version, namely, WeChat version 5.3, Momo version 5.0 and Bling version 3.0. The test platform is Android. The core of making friends with strangers is nothing more than looking for people, finding topics and chatting up, so this horizontal review will focus on the interface and interaction, feature functions, stranger search and screening, and chat functions.
In fact, WeChat and Momo are products of the same period. They were launched in January and August 2011 respectively, while Bilin launched them in May 2013. In terms of login mode, WeChat and Momo only support mobile phone number registration. Bilin supports microblog, QQ and mobile phone number login. The following figure shows the login interfaces ▼ of WeChat, Momo and Bilin respectively
Interface and Interaction
WeChat: Since version 5.2, WeChat for Android has followed the Android HOLO specification, placed the label on the top of the screen, switched by sliding left and right on the main interface, and placed search and other functions on the upper right corner. This kind of interface is clean, and the core functions are easy to use, but at the cost of the deeper level of other functions ▼
Momo: Its interface is the most nostalgic among the three products. It is the old-fashioned bottom tab bar design, and it also has 5 tab entrances. This can improve the appearance rate of the function entrance, but the disadvantage is that it is difficult to be simple and beautiful. Obviously, for Momo, the realization of functions should take precedence over trends such as flattening and simplicity ▼
Bilin: It also uses Android HOLO style. In addition to color matching, its structure and shape are very similar to WeChat. The top three tags are chat, discovery and friends/address book. However, because its function is more focused on making friends with strangers (in fact, only strangers make friends), the interface and module will appear more refreshing than WeChat ▼
[Features]
WeChat: Every version update of WeChat in those days has its own killer weapon. Shake, circle of friends, and fight planes were once selling points. However, in the process of WeChat crushing and devouring everything, the past and future functions have been put into the "Discovery" tab.
In the current version, WeChat can only be characterized by everything: circle of friends, shake, public account subscription, games and shopping. ▼
Momo: Relying on LBS distance positioning and early community atmosphere marketing, it is famous for its magic weapon. Among the three products, Momo has the strongest smell of commerce and local tyrants (roots). There are not only star concept, member center, but also Expression Mall and merchants applying for entrance.
At the same time, its "People nearby" module is also the most versatile and accurate, both functions and interfaces are running in a large and comprehensive direction. In order to activate users, it also adds modules ▼ that are not available in other two products, such as "groups, activities, and momo bars"
Bilin: To sum up, it is the setting and exclusive function of direct call. The stimulation and authenticity of its main direct call, coupled with the function of random paired calls, can arouse the interest of many light users. In addition, in order to prevent falling into Momo's deep artillery pit, the LBS concept is purposely canceled, and only two regions in the same city and the whole country can choose ▼
[Stranger search and screening]
WeChat: WeChat's stranger friendship function is mainly composed of three modules: shake, people nearby and drifting bottle. Shake is extremely simple. It is to return the nickname and distance of the user who shakes the phone at the same time. It is not possible to filter gender, but to say hello; For nearby people, the nickname and distance of nearby users can be listed by distance, and gender can be filtered; Drifting bottle, that is, sending and receiving voice and text messages at random in disguised form to provide chat topics for strangers ▼
Momo: It is undoubtedly the most powerful among the three in terms of stranger search and screening. Its home page is the "People Near" module, which takes the classic LBS distance as the default arrangement, and provides screening options such as gender, time of appearance, and even occupation, age, constellation (the last three important members).
The "discovery" module also provides many natural chat up function modules such as message board (friends circle of surrounding people), group, activity, Momo bar, etc. ▼
Be linked: Its search and screening functions are the most refreshing among the three. Because it also focuses on voice communication, its "discovery" page can really only be used to "discover" other users, no games, no groups.
It doesn't even import the address book and microblog friend information, and is completely born for strangers to make friends. Users can only find friends again through "random call" and "just online" on the "Discovery" page. The former is a random matchmaker for online users; The latter will list the users according to the online time, which can be filtered by gender and region ▼
[Chat function]
WeChat: In addition to the conventional graphics, voice and facial expressions, this WeChat business line also has unexpected functions such as location, business card and collection.
Momo: Compared with the strong ability to meet and find topics, its chat function is more regular, only supporting graphics, voice and location. Hmm, few but excellent, location information is the key XD. The chat interfaces of WeChat and Momo are on the left and right respectively ▼
Bilin: The chat part is the biggest difference between it and other products. It deliberately weakens the text and voice (the truth is that the latest version of it only adds the function of sending image and text messages).
The "random call" function, as the core of Bling, will automatically start user matching and display the call interface after the user enters the interface. The avatar and nickname of the other party will be displayed in the center. If you do not press the Connect button within 5 seconds, the person will be automatically replaced. After connecting, you can start to really "chat". The call interface and time limit setting create a sense of excitement intentionally or unintentionally ▼
Summary
WeChat: It doesn't lack activity, and almost everyone is on it. However, the positioning of WeChat is not to make friends with strangers. Making friends with strangers is just a small function on its way to development. It gets hot and cold quickly, just like last year, when people hit the plane, how many people still remember it? And just because everyone is on it, strangers and appointment information are mixed in the information flow of relatives and friends, and they always feel something is wrong.
Momo: It is already a famous brand product for strangers to make friends. Although "about gun" has made it famous, the various users attracted by the inherent impression are slowly affecting the success rate of making friends. At the same time, rogue settings such as members, privileged systems and frequent notification bar alerts also seem to "expel" high-end users.
Bilin: The target user group of Bilin is young people of the post-90s generation. The setting of direct calls is very creative. The thrill of talking directly with strangers attracts and maintains the viscosity of young users, while screening out a large number of "old people". After all, not everyone has the courage to talk directly with strangers. Although this setting is distinctive and maintains user accuracy (76% of users are post-90s), it also creates a bottleneck for the number of users.
As with all horizontal reviews, it is still impossible to give absolutely universal results. Users still need to make choices according to their own conditions. If you just occasionally feel lonely in the dead of night and want to find a stranger to pass the time, WeChat drifting bottle is quite straightforward; Momo's position in the dating industry has not been shaken by other products for the time being. If you really want to make an appointment, you'd better open Momo silently; If you want to find excitement and also want to have a real "chat", you'd better summon up the courage to open Bilin
