WeChat, the dominant smartphone messaging platform in China, currently has 396 million active users. The app already offers people a slew of features, but it's now beginning to focus on hardware - releasing a specific API for hardware devices to connect with WeChat.

While WhatsApp wins over the West and WeChat conquers China, messaging app LINE has taken Japan by storm. With 400 million users worldwide, and 52 million in Japan alone, LINE's bright and vibrant customisable stickers are hugely popular – but can they really replace text?

From the viral popularity of 'kaomojis' like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ or the fact that messaging app LINE made $17 million from stickers in the first quarter of 2013 alone, people have grown accustomed to depicting their emotions with images. But what if you could use your own face to do it?

From messaging to social media to a marketplace to browsing the internet, WeChat is the app the does everything. While Western companies and app developers race to unbundle their services into efficient single-purpose apps, WeChat continues to add feature after feature.