The native version of the WeChat application for HarmonyOS now supports interaction with Huawei's Celia voice assistant through an agent-to-agent (A2A) integration. This feature allows users to send messages and make calls to WeChat contacts using their voice.
According to IT Home, this capability was added in version 8.0.22 of WeChat for HarmonyOS, after which a preview of this function was published. Users can activate Celia and ask it to send a message in WeChat to a contact or to start a voice or video call.
When sending a text message, the user can dictate its content within the same phrase, for example, telling a friend that they will arrive in ten minutes. If two contacts have the same name or the request is unclear, Celia asks clarifying questions and performs the action only after user confirmation.
Currently, the functionality is limited: messages and calls work only with individual friends. Celia cannot yet post messages in group chats or initiate group calls, nor does it support sending stickers or the WeChat account cloning feature. To use the feature, the latest version of WeChat for HarmonyOS and Celia version 11.7.8.303 or newer are required.
This feature is designed for situations where hands are busy, such as while driving, cooking, cleaning, caring for a child, or exercising. Furthermore, it is aimed at elderly users, people with poor eyesight, and those who have difficulty navigating the phone, as voice control reduces the barrier to using WeChat.
Within the A2A model, the phone manufacturer's system agent issues a command, which WeChat receives, executes the task, and returns the result, requiring user authorization to establish the connection. In June, Chinese media reported that WeChat is collaborating with Huawei, Honor, Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo to implement this assistant feature in WeChat on their devices. Honor was the first to introduce this feature, allowing its YOYO assistant to send WeChat messages and initiate voice and video calls on Magic8, 500, and X70 series phones. The release of HarmonyOS brought a similar integration to Huawei's own platform.
The A2A mechanism implies that actions pass through an interface controlled and provided by WeChat, rather than a scenario where the assistant controls the application screen on behalf of the user. This allows chat functions to remain within WeChat while enabling the system assistant on each phone brand to launch these functions.
