WeChat on HarmonyOS just got another test build, and this one is worth watching because it is less about one splashy feature and more about Tencent filling in all the awkward gaps that kept the native HarmonyOS app feeling like a spare phone version.
IT之家 spotted WeChat HarmonyOS 8.0.18.34, build 8393250, in Huawei AppGallery on May 30. The test window runs through June 29, and the rollout is still weirdly scarce: if you miss the trial slot, you have to wait for Tencent to add more. The official changelog says the usual useless line, “fixed some known issues.” The user-facing list is much more interesting.
The big practical change is that mini programs, payments, Channels, official accounts, livestreams, and basic chat are now joined by more of the small daily behaviors people expect. Long-pressing text in chat can now trigger Search. Photos and videos in chat support automatic rotation in landscape. Video playback in chat supports two-finger zoom, though IT之家 says Channels video does not yet have that zoom behavior. Foldables and tablets can show a split-column interface, but users may need to clear the app card and reopen it before the layout appears. That is very WeChat: the feature is there, then you have to poke it.
Channels is also getting less half-built. The HarmonyOS app can view image posts, show and comment on image items in comments, show livestream reservations, put Channels red-dot reminders on the bottom Discover tab, and open a creator center under Me, Channels, then the top-right account entry. Posting image posts still is not supported, so creators on Huawei hardware are still not getting the full iOS or Android flow.
The AI bits are the messy part. The Listen section is being renamed around “music echo,” with AI song generation and AI cover-style tools moving into options called “I want to sing” and “I want to speak.” Some accounts also see an AI cover model under Settings, General, Listen. The May 17 8.0.17.38 test had already shown gray tests for chatting with Tencent Yuanbao inside WeChat, plus AI songwriting and AI cover functions. I like the idea of Yuanbao living where the user already has messages, search, files, and mini programs. I do not like how random Tencent’s gray tests feel. You can read five reports, update, and still not see the thing.
The numbers explain why Tencent is grinding through this. IT之家 said the HarmonyOS version passed 50 million installs in the May 30 report, while its May 17 report put the count above 55 million. I would not treat those as clean active-user numbers, but either way this is no longer a side build for enthusiasts. Tencent’s Cai Guangzhong said in May that WeChat had an 800-person team working on HarmonyOS adaptation, about half of its developers, according to IT之家.
The small commerce touches may matter more than the AI toys. “Mini shop and cards” is testing recommended or followed products on the right side, while its notifications have moved to the top-right corner across three clients. Service accounts now get a separate Contacts category, with official accounts and service accounts split out. Official account pinning becomes “star,” while service accounts keep pinning. It is bureaucratic, but it makes sense if WeChat wants shopping, service messages, and mini programs to feel less buried.
Zooming a chat video is not a headline feature. Neither is a permanent comment box at the bottom of a Moments detail page. But those are the things that make a native rebuild feel safe enough for normal people to use all day. Tencent is not done. Channels posting is still limited, gray tests are still a lottery, and the update notes are still garbage. But WeChat for HarmonyOS now looks less like a compatibility project and more like WeChat with Huawei-specific homework.
Sources: IT之家 reports on WeChat HarmonyOS 8.0.18.34 and 8.0.17.38, plus QuestMobile data via 36氪 showing March 2026 mini program MAU at 1.021 billion overall, 973 million for WeChat mini programs, 644 million for Alipay mini programs, and 273 million for Douyin mini programs.