Download.it search icon
Advertisement

An instant messaging service that offers cross-platform connectivity allowing users to communicate across a number of different applications

An instant messaging service that offers cross-platform connectivity allowing users to communicate across a number of different applications

Vote: (19 votes)

Program license: Free

Developer: Tencent

Version: 9.6.6.28821

Works under: Windows

Vote:

Program license

(19 votes)

Free

Developer

Version

Tencent

9.6.6.28821

Works under:

Windows

Pros

  • One of the most popular messaging platforms in the world
  • Windows client is feature rich and machine translation is especially impressive

Cons

  • Still doesn't have much popularity among American audiences
  • Many social media features locked behind a paywall

Tencent QQ is a modern messaging service that's found particular popularity throughout China, but it allows people from all around the world to stay in touch with their friends and family. While QQ may not have earned that much brand awareness in the United States, it's become a formidable tech name throughout the rest of the world. It's been recognized as the eighth most popularly visited website throughout the world. That's in large part due to the fact that QQ offers a lot more than just the ability to send text messages to your loved ones. It integrates a whole variety of different social services ranging from gaming to shopping in one package, essentially serving as a sort of swiss army knife social media platform.

The fact that QQ has managed to survive as long as it has is no small miracle in and of itself. First developed in 1999, it was intended as a competitor to then popular American messaging apps like ICQ and AIM. But as American standards changed and social media services like Faccebook, Twitter, and Instagram supplanted these traditional text messaging programs in the popular imagination, QQ managed to blossom throughout Southeast Asia. Tencent QQ has been until recently relegated largely to Chinese audiences, but the latest version of this messaging platform is available natively in six different languages, but it also offers an instant translation feature that will allow you to communicate effectively with people who speak any of the 50 languages that this service supports.

The automatic translator is a surprising function that distinguishes QQ from its western competitors and positions it as a software platform committed to connecting diverse communities, but it's just the start when it comes to supplemental services offered through this software. QQ wants to be the number one communication platform throughout the world, and Tencent has worked aggressively to ensure their software works across all the major mobile and desktop platforms. In addition to traditional text messaging, QQ also supports voice over internet protocol and video messaging, putting it in competition with major platforms like Skype and Discord. The Windows version is the most fully featured of the versions of QQ International available, and the translations serve as a central pillar of this platform.

Alongside QQ exists a whole social networking platform called the Qzone, and the QQ client serves as a portal users can take advantage of to access this space. And while it offers a whole host of services you won't find on many social media platforms, access to a lot of these features requires a subscription fee. But if you're looking to reach out to an international audience and aren't worried about money, Qzone allows a lot of options for writing blogs, sharing videos, and listening to music as well as playing games and taking part in any number of other activities.

Pros

  • One of the most popular messaging platforms in the world
  • Windows client is feature rich and machine translation is especially impressive

Cons

  • Still doesn't have much popularity among American audiences
  • Many social media features locked behind a paywall