WeChat tests breaking news alerts as it looks to enrich real-time content

Tencent’s super app WeChat has added a fresh feature that is designed to send breaking news alerts on top of users’ other official account subscription notifications, in an effort to make the messaging app more competitive in information distribution. Sources of the latest news for the alert mostly come from China’s official state media outlets, with WeChat users able to get international breaking news notices without the need to fully subscribe. According to screenshots shared by beta-test users, news stories including rainstorm warnings in Beijing and updates on conflicts in the Middle East have been displayed on the test channel. [36Kr, in Chinese]