The apps you need to travel smarter in Asia

While WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app in the world, three other mobile apps have come to dominate in Asia, thanks to the additional features they provide users. WeChat in China, Line in Thailand and KakaoTalk in South Korea combine messaging functionality like text and video with the features of Uber, Google Maps and Apple Pay — maps, ride-sharing technology and cashless payment options — among many others.

For travellers especially, these three apps can help to smooth planning and tap into local life. Be aware some features on the apps are limited to locals, but enough services are available to all that downloading and using these one-shot apps could improve your stay in Asia.

WeChat: Instant Translations And Quick Payments

With popular websites like Google, Facebook and Instagram blocked, WeChat is a social media platform in mainland China that has grown in popularity in recent years. Its translation tool and pay feature are two of the most helpful features to travellers.

To begin, download WeChat in any app store and as long as your phone is defaulted to English, the app will install in English. (Otherwise, you can click on the upper right-hand corner of the app to choose from 18 different languages.)

To translate text or words outside the app, such as a restaurant menu or a Mandarin-only website, tap the Discover tab on the bottom of the app and choose the Scan option. The Scan page will allow you to scan QR codes or take pictures of text for translation. One second after taking a photo of the text, the Mandarin text will automatically appear in English or vice versa.

If you receive messages in Chinese, simply long-press on the text to see an instant translation in more than 20 different languages, including English.

WeChat’s pay feature is designed to allow users to do everything from exchange money with friends to pay for street food, but it requires a local bank account.

However, travellers and other users can bypass this by asking local friends for help. After you hand over cash to them, they can electronically transfer the money to you in a virtual red envelope (called a “hongbao”) via the app. On your end, opening up a red envelope for the first time will activate a wallet tab that pops up on the app’s “Me” page. You will then be able to access and use WeChat Pay.

While this process is the easiest way to refill your wallet, you can also use services like Swapsy if you have a PayPal account. Swapsy is a currency exchange website that allows funds in PayPal accounts to be exchanged for WeChat money.

“WeChat Pay is difficult to download but it’s a lifeline to any activity in China,” said Choi Dahye, 42, who travels in Asia extensively, teaching piano at home and abroad. The Seoul resident has used the feature to book train tickets and even pay for face painting at an amusement park.

Line: Useful Everywhere in Asia, Best In Thailand

The Japanese messaging app, Line, has 164 million users spanning Japan, Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia — making it versatile if you’re planning to visit more than one of these countries and have basic communications needs, like texting.

Though it has a pay feature called Line Pay, without a local phone number, travellers and others are unable to use it. However, there is a workaround: If you have WeChat Pay, an alliance between the two companies allows the Chinese app to be used at all Line Pay vendors.

Line’s most practical service for travellers, Line Man, is available in Thailand. Calling itself the “daily life assistant app,” this feature helps users order from restaurants and convenience stores, hail taxis and receive and send parcels. While the request is made within the app, the service can be paid for in cash.

Picked up a fragile souvenir in Bangkok and don’t want to lug it around on your Southeast Asia trip? The app can arrange for Thailand Post to pick up your package at your hotel and have it sent back home based on local postage rates.

Map It and Cab It With KakaoTalk

As of October 2018, KakaoTalk has 44 million active users in South Korea, a country with approximately 51 million people. There are many similarities between KakaoTalk and Line, as each has a wide range of emojis that are a draw for users, and both apps have successful franchises, like physical stores, that profit off their emoji characters.

KakaoTalk, however, has two apps particularly helpful to travelers to South Korea: KakaoMap and Kakao T.

KakaoMap is a maps app that allows you to search for places and map your way there via foot, car, bike and public transportation. Not only does the app have an edge over Google Maps, which operates on a limited license in South Korea, but KakaoMap users can click on nearby subway and bus stops to see arrival times in real time, locate bathrooms within stations and get estimates on taxi rides.

Travellers can also use Kakao T to hail taxis, get driving directions, and find parking spots. The company also plans on launching a women-only taxi service in the near future. KakaoMap and Kakao T need to be downloaded separately but each require a KakaoTalk account to log in.