WeChat has rolled out a new beta version, 8.0.23.35, for its HarmonyOS app, bringing a host of new features and improvements. Available through the Huawei App Gallery, this update is accessible to users who have received an invitation via SMS.
Key Updates and New Functionality
This latest beta release introduces several user-centric features, many of which leverage AI capabilities. Notable additions include:
- AI Summaries and Assistance: Users can now get AI summaries of web links and documents within chats by long-pressing them. Additionally, the ‘Ask Xiaowei’ feature has been integrated more broadly, allowing users to interact with AI for various tasks, including writing draft moments, summarizing content, and answering questions related to ‘Listen To Music’ (听一听).
- Enhanced Content Creation: When posting to WeChat Channels (视频号), users can now add annotations. Previously published Channel content also supports adding annotations via the share option.
- Improved User Interface and Experience: Several UI elements have been refreshed, including the ‘Listen To Music’ floating button and the notification display for official accounts. The ‘Discover’ section’s live streaming interface has been reorganized for better logic alignment, with the search button now moved to the main interface.
- Content Management: In official account feeds, users can now long-press articles from followed accounts to unfollow or delete the message.
- Friend and Group Information: Key details like friend nicknames, group nicknames, remarks, WeChat IDs, and regions can now be long-pressed for easy copying. In group chats with administrative permissions, members invited to the group will now have their names displayed in a clickable blue format.
- Bug Fixes: The update addresses a long-standing issue with delayed image opening and other known bugs.
Expanded ‘Ask Xiaowei’ Integration
A significant focus of this update is the deeper integration of ‘Ask Xiaowei’ (小微). This AI assistant is now accessible through various points within the app:
- As a floating button on the ‘Listen To Music’ main page, offering context-specific prompts.
- When sharing WeChat Channel content.
- Within the chat interface for general queries.
- For summarizing web links and documents.
- For AI-assisted writing when drafting moments.
The rollout of some ‘Ask Xiaowei’ features is gradual, requiring specific account gray-scale testing to be enabled.
Other Noteworthy Features
The beta also includes:
- Friend nickname, group nickname, remarks, WeChat ID, and region information are now long-press copyable.
- Official account message feeds allow long-pressing on articles from followed accounts to unfollow or delete message.
- The button style for images or videos in chats has changed.
- Forwarding is now available for recommended stickers in official account feeds.
- Live streaming pages show the current number of shares/forwards.
- The ‘Listen To Music’ floating icon has been updated.
- Display of ‘Moments’ (朋友圈) like effects from other devices.
- Official account notifications now display the names of the services sending multiple messages.
- An AI summary feature under article titles in official accounts, with a floating button for ‘Ask AI’ when selecting text.
- Group payment feature includes an import option for bills, group buys, and historical payments (gradual rollout).
- A merged image sending function is being gradually opened.
- After enabling ‘Do Not Disturb’ for group messages, users can set exceptions for certain messages to still receive notifications.
- Support for automatic login on the HarmonyOS computer WeChat client when scanning the QR code.
- Long-pressing chat messages now includes the ‘Ask Xiaowei’ option.
- Long-pressing web links or document messages in chats offers a ‘Xiaowei Summary’ feature.
The testing period for this beta version runs from November 6, 2026, to December 6, 2026.
