Surviving is hard but oh so much fun (sometimes)
As mentioned earlier the app is not available on my Belgian App Store.
The weird but nice thing is, the app is regularly updated anyway! If I click more info, oh no, app is not available… but I manage to see somehow the details of the update.
So once you have it – it stays active.
See two recent updates and the versions received.
The latest Didi app update mentions: “With DiDi you can catch/get a ride with a tap of your finger within minutes. Our full English interface, 24/7 in-app English customer service, and presence in over 400 cities across China makes us the most reliable and convenient service to get you where you need to be!”
This link supposedly gives details about DiDi Rider app.
However reality is different. Again my Belgian Mac App Store says it is not available. Apparently it was available at some stage, it is in my mobile and it seems to be working fine, see the screenshots above.
Then I found this link with a QR code:
It says: “Scan the QR code to Download DiDi on your phone”.
You can see a list of countries, not sure if it corresponds with the Mac App Store availability:
Argentina • Australia • Brazil • Chile • Colombia • Costa Rica • Dominican Republic • Ecuador • Egypt • Japan • Mexico • New Zealand • Panama • Peru • Russia
Interesting enough the list does not mention China. I did not scan the QR code as the app is on my mobile and it could mess up everything. But if someday the app goes dead I might try.
I also found a possible download from a third party, worth a try…
softonic download
The download link is here.
Total confusion is the word. So, don’t ask me how I got the app working…
It all depends on your mobile (iOS or other) and for iPhone where your App Shop is located; if in China sure more easy.
Any feedback is appreciated!
On 20 January 2023 SCMP wrote:
Didi Chuxing’s main app returns to Apple, Android app stores in China after Beijing gives green light for new user sign-ups
The ‘Didi Chuxing’ ride-hailing app returned to Apple’s store on Thursday, while the Android version was restored by Wednesday on various local platforms
Didi Shunfengche, a car-pooling service, and Uber China, the Didi-owned local platform of the US ride-hailing giant, remained inaccessible on app stores.
Well that was not the end of the story!
After my warnings about the Didi app on the iPhone, the app finally crashed. Now (February 2021) the English Didi app is resurrected. Like a miracle!
As I wrote on 15 May 2019, Didi app disappeared from App Stores.
I still use this old but beautiful iMAC for some software and to read small CD sizes that new MACs do not accept anymore (you need to place them on a tray). But the iMAC G4 CD tray refused to open.
A few years earlier we managed to repair the screen backlight years ago (mentioned in my book TOXIC CAPITALISM).
I needed to read a small size CD and realized the tray got stuck. There were some faint click-clacks but that was it.
Out of desperation I poked around the tray, trying to pull it out, with the lid opened. Finally I pushed inside the white plastic (see pic 4), which “clicked”, see pic 5.
Then with the keyboard I opened the tray that slides out.
Simple, works…
Didi app disappeared from App Stores for iOS as I discovered.
Indeed I was happily using the English app (that does not show anything about the version) but I am getting the warning that I need to update, see screenshot.
While online the Apple App shop shows the correct app, being “DiDi – Greater China”, available for iPhone, this app is NOT available, in my case on the Belgian Apple Shop. Other DiDi app shown are for other applications such as Didi driver. No Didi car. See screenshot of the Belgian store.
My Chinese friends have the latest version, downloaded from the China Shop (see their screenshot). The app does offer a language choice Chinese or English.
I sent a mail to their service and they did reply, see here (slightly edited).
We suggest you could reinstall DiDi app again.
Sorry about the inconvenience brought to you, due to for now, some app stores doesn’t support DiDi app. Our related team are processing this issue.
We suggest you could change your APPLE ID region just for this time, when you donwload and install in China APP STORE, you could change back to previous region.
And changing region of Apple ID method in below:
Tap 【Settings】 – Tap 【iTunesstore/AppStore】 -Tap【Apple ID】 in above- Tap 【Check Apple ID】 – tap【Country/Region】 – Tap【Change Country or Region> – Choose China – Fill all information needed. Then you can downlod the DiDi-Greater China APP
The lastest verson of DiDi app is 5.2.48_533, you can check whether your app is the latest one or not.
If not please change your Apple ID into China then you can find the DiDi app in app store. If yes please ignore this tip.
DiDi Customer Service
The app still works but for how long?
I already downloaded another app, just in case: “China Taxi”, in English.
I will certainly not do the country change, that is a risky thing. I’ll wait for DiDi to sort things out with Apple.
The weird thing is, why does Apple accept the app on their China Shop and not on others? Cannot be an issue of “technical or security” issues.
I find it strange there is no mention of this on the Internet.
Oh well, it took some time but the didi app is now dead after updating my iOS to v. 14.2.
And still no new app for didi (cars) on my Belgian Apple store.
I had received an request if I wanted to test a “beta version” a few days ago, did not try it as that normally does not work.
Fortunately I do have the Alipay app in English where I can book didi…
But I miss the didi app, it was working pretty well and I also received alerts on discounts. Now I have to see how that will work with Alipay.
After my warnings about the Didi app on the iPhone, the app finally crashed. Now the English Didi app is resurrected. Like a miracle! https://www.beijing1980.com/2021/02/18/english-didi-app-is-resurrected/
See:
In this DiDi app update a review of the saga of this app, so important in China but downloading to your iPhone can be a nightmare. My latest findings
Well, that is what Chinese government gives you as a message.
Try: http://www.bjgaj.gov.cn/eng/
Good luck. What I understand, the websites are tailored to be visited only by Windows users (how much were they paid for that?). Use Apple and you are out of luck.
Now, how more short-sighted can that be? As a webmaster I even wonder how they managed that filtering in their web design.
We already are living in an Intranet in China, not Internet. Isolated from the world, unable to reach the most important websites one needs for research and business. And forget many of the international email platforms, blocked in China.
In other words:
Unless of course you think Baidu delivers “information”. I had a hilarious moment with a Chinese friend looking up the word “horny” on Baidu. He found it was well, some rough skin stuff. I explained it was not really that meaning…
Oh well. China says it opens the door more and more. They forgot to say they installed double glass in the doorways, so the “flies” will not come in.
There are still many naïve foreigners who did not get it. Until they sit in their 5-star hotel and can’t open gmail.
I just wonder what all those hundreds of thousand of Chinese who study and travel abroad think when returning home. And are back in their isolation.
So, when the government talks about “innovation and creativity”, allow me to become cynical.
And this sarcastic comment from Sinocism:
“Mark Zuckerberg’s Donation Spurs Philanthropy Debate in China – China Real Time Report – WSJ – One of the jokes going around is that the announcement must be fake because when a PRC user tries to find Facebook their browser says the site does not exist…”