WeChat rolls out 'mini programs' in a bid to kill off apps

One can apply photo filters, check bus, movie timings through the app; reports Tech in Asia

China’s top messaging app, with over 840 million active users, is trying something radical. WeChat is today rolling out "mini-programs,” embedded apps which require no download or install.

Tencent chose to use “mini programs” because Apple would not permit the use of the word “app”, according to Ma Huateng, CEO of the $240 billion firm that runs WeChat.

After months of beta testing, many companies have these instant apps ready for use within WeChat.

“Mini programs are deliberately meant to be discovered socially through friends or in the real world by scanning QR codes. There is no official app store