Why X is still far from Elon Musk’s vision of a super app
X recently launched its standalone X Chat app, giving users a new way to communicate outside the main app. It’s the next step towards the ‘super app’ that owner Elon Musk is so keen to create. But that still seems a long way off.
X Chat is only available for iOS for now, and is being promoted by X Corp. as an app without ads and without tracking. No one can read your conversations. Not even X, Musk promised.
Although X Chat offers the same features as WhatsApp, there is an important drawback: you need an existing X account. In effect, X Chat is an extension of DMs, so you can even make video calls. But your extended contact list is essentially everyone you follow, whereas with Signal and WhatsApp you choose your own contacts. This could still be handy for companies that want to support customers via X, but many businesses have already standardised on WhatsApp.
Musk has often shared his vision of a so-called “everything app”: a social platform that allows users to pay, transfer money and carry out all kinds of financial transactions within a single ecosystem.
A separate chat app seems at first glance to be at odds with that vision, because X Corp. is creating a standalone product. But it isn’t entirely illogical: the extra security layer could give regulators more confidence when it comes to handling payment data. That would be important for the launch of X Money, which has so far been delayed.
Elon Musk wanted to roll out X Money at the end of 2024, and later mentioned April 2026 as the definitive launch date. That has not yet happened.
Although X Corp. has already obtained approval as a payment processor in most US states, some key regions have rejected the application over concerns about funding partners and ownership structures.
Without that approval, X cannot launch a payment service in the United States. For now, the company also does not seem inclined to start in other markets first.
It is questionable anyway whether X will ever become the super app Musk has in mind. China’s WeChat started out as a simple messaging app, similar to WhatsApp, but in China it has grown into something that goes far beyond chatting. For many Chinese people it has now become a central piece of digital infrastructure through which they manage a large part of their daily lives.
Users can send messages, make calls, hold video calls and manage group chats, but it doesn’t stop there. Within WeChat there is also a social networking feature called Moments, reminiscent of a combination of Instagram and Facebook, where people share photos, post status updates and comment on friends’ posts.
The real strength of WeChat lies in the integration of financial services. Through WeChat Pay, users can pay in shops by scanning QR codes, make online purchases, send money to friends and settle bills. In many Chinese cities, cash has therefore virtually disappeared from the streets.
On top of that, WeChat functions as a platform on which other services run via mini-programs – essentially small apps within the app itself. With them, users can, for example, order taxis, get food delivered, book hotel rooms, book flights, make medical appointments or deal with government services without ever leaving WeChat.
Businesses are also strongly represented on the platform. They have official accounts for customer service, marketing and direct sales. For many companies in China, a presence on WeChat is just as essential as having a website.
With features such as X Chat and the planned payment service X Money, Musk is therefore trying to adopt elements of that model. The difference is that WeChat was able to grow in China within a relatively closed digital ecosystem, while Western markets are already divided between specialised apps and are subject to stricter regulation.
Where consumers in Europe or the United States often open different apps for chatting, payments, transport, social media and shopping, a user in China can in many cases do all of that within WeChat. That makes the platform less of an app and more of a digital operating system for everyday life.
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