Omarchy author DHH slams Chinese software as overly crude, naming WeChat, Alipay and HarmonyOS.

Beating AI News, a crypto and blockchain news outlet, reports that renowned developer DHH (David Heinemeier Hansson) introduced his self-developed Linux desktop system Omarchy at the GOSIM conference in Shenzhen on October 17, and later attended a developer gathering with over 500 registrants. The next day, he praised Huawei’s MateBook Fold foldable device as futuristic, but in the evening criticized Chinese software as overly crude, naming WeChat, Alipay, and HarmonyOS. DHH stated that while he greatly admires China’s AI models and hardware, its software design remains confusing to him. He elaborated that the issues center on interface aesthetics, user workflows, and detail refinement, citing problems like insufficient white space, inconsistent margins, jarring page transitions, rough animations, and disorganized information architecture. DHH noted that large Silicon Valley apps still hold a clear lead in these areas. Some netizens pushed back, arguing that WeChat and Alipay integrate a wide range of lifestyle services including payments and transportation, reducing the need for users to switch between apps, so complex interfaces are unavoidable. DHH disagreed, asserting that rich functionality and refined design can coexist, and there is no excuse for super apps to be so crude. Others in the comment section pointed out that the complexity of domestic apps is tied to commercialization: splash-screen shake-to-open ads, loan portals, and short video recommendations are increasingly crowding out core functional interfaces. One developer analogized this to adding loan features to X and stuffing TikTok into Stripe.