WiFi Master Key: #3 App After Wechat & QQ with 520 Million MAU in China

With over 520 million monthly active users (MAU) and an accumulated user base of over 900 million in over 223 countries and regions, WiFi Master Key is an app that you may not have heard of or read about, but is perhaps the only platform with numbers that can compete with Tencent‘s WeChat and QQ.

WiFi Master Key is a wifi-sharing app that enables free Internet access through hotspot sharing, the first of its kind developed by LinkSure Network. With the URL “www.wifi.com”, LinkSure Network was founded in 2013 by Chen Danian, a Chinese serial Internet entrepreneur that co-founded the once largest Chinese Internet company by market capitalization, Shanda Interactive.

According to App Annie Retrospective Report 2017 released earlier this year, WiFi Master Key is listed as the world’s top 10 apps with the highest MAU.

 WiFi Master Key is listed as the world's top 10 apps with the highest MAU.
WiFi Master Key is listed as the world’s top 10 apps with the highest MAU. Image Source: App Annie Retrospective Report 2017.

In April 2018, mobile internet-focused research institution Cheetah Lab also named WiFi Master Key as the #3 app on the list of TOP 500 Apps in China for Q1 2018. WiFi Master Key, a mobile app that is not affiliated with any of the Chinese technology giants Baidu, Alibaba, or Tencent, came in third place just after WeChat and QQ.

The top three apps have a weekly active user penetration rate of 80.7%, 32.4% and 24.1% respectively in Q1. This is also the ninth consecutive quarter that WiFi Master Key, along with WeChat and QQ have maintained the top three spots. The other apps in the top 10 include Toutiao, Xigua Video, QQ browser, Baidu Mobile, Alipay, and Tencent Video.

Wifi Master Key website.
Wifi Master Key website. Image Source: Pandaily.

The popular app was also under fire in April for possible security compromises and gathering of user personal data. WiFi Master Key, however, has stated that it complies with cybersecurity regulations in China to ensure high levels of security and privacy on its platform for all users.