Developer David Heinemeier Hansson, better known as DHH, drew attention in Shenzhen after presenting his Linux desktop system Omarchy at the GOSIM conference on Oct. 17 and attending a developer meetup that drew more than 500 sign-ups. A day later, after saying Huawei’s MateBook Fold felt futuristic, he turned to criticism, calling Chinese software “rough” and naming WeChat, Alipay and HarmonyOS.
DHH said he admires China’s AI models and hardware, but finds many software products confusing in their design. He pointed to issues including limited whitespace, inconsistent margins, abrupt page transitions, rough animations and disorganized information architecture. In his view, large Silicon Valley apps still hold a clear lead on those details.
His comments triggered pushback online. Some users argued that WeChat and Alipay combine payments, transportation and many other daily services, reducing the need to jump between apps, and that interface complexity is hard to avoid in a super app. DHH rejected that argument, saying rich functionality and polished design can coexist. Others in the discussion said the complexity of domestic apps is tied to commercialization, with splash-screen shake ads, loan entry points and short-video recommendations taking over space once reserved for core functions.
Developer David Heinemeier Hansson, or DHH, presented his Linux desktop system Omarchy at the GOSIM conference in Shenzhen on Oct. 17, then joined a developer meetup that drew more than 500 sign-ups.
The next day, after praising Huawei’s MateBook Fold as futuristic, he criticized Chinese software as rough and specifically named WeChat, Alipay and HarmonyOS.
DHH says software design still falls short
DHH said he greatly admires China’s AI models and hardware, but that software design still leaves him puzzled. He later said the problems were concentrated in visual presentation, user flows and fine-grained product polish.
- Not enough whitespace
- Inconsistent margins
- Abrupt page transitions
- Rough animations
- Disorganized information structure
He said large Silicon Valley apps still have a clear edge in those areas.
Debate over the super app model
Some online users pushed back, arguing that WeChat and Alipay combine payments, transportation and many other daily services, which reduces the hassle of switching across different apps. In that view, interface complexity is difficult to avoid.
DHH disagreed. He said rich functionality and refined design can coexist, and that there is no reason for a super app to feel this rough.
Others in the comment section said the complexity of domestic apps is tied to commercialization. Splash-screen shake ads, loan portals and short-video recommendations are taking over interface space that once belonged to core functions.
One developer compared it to adding loan features to X, then stuffing a TikTok into Stripe.
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