Category: Apps

The Kuwait Municipality recently launched the Baladia 139 mobile application to report issues. Currently, the issues you can report are waste removal related but hopefully, they’ll add more categories soon or at least an “Other” section. This is what they have to say about the app:

Baladia 139 application is developed by Kuwait Municipality offering mobile users one more way to report selected issues to Kuwait Municipality.

With Baladia 139, reporting an issue is as easy as snapping a photo with your smartphone, adding detailed information and hitting submit. The location of your request will be automatically detected and sent to Kuwait Municipality, so a team can go and handle your request at the earliest.

The app offers the following service request categories:

• Garbage Removal
• Abandon Cars Removal
• Building Waste Removal
• Furniture Waste Removal

Feel free to submit and track the progress of your requests via Baladia 139 application.

If you’re on iOS you can download it here.
If you’re an Android user you can download it here.

Thanks Fahad

V-Thru is an app similar to Carriage and Deliveroo but instead of it being a food delivery service, it’s a virtual drive-thru service that allows you to pick up food from restaurants that don’t have a drive-thru. I originally refused to use the app since it required me to sign up and register before I could explore it and I HATE apps that force me to sign up and hand over my personal information without letting me explore first. But eventually I had to cave in since I needed to experience the app for work purposes and now I kinda like it.

Before the pandemic anytime I wanted to pick up food I’d just go down to a restaurant, order my food and then pick it up and head back to my car. Some places even allowed me to call ahead of time so they could prepare my food that way I wouldn’t have to wait for long at the restaurant. But now with the pandemic, I prefer not leaving my car, touching restaurant door handles or using Knet machines which is why I’m liking V-Thru.

The way V-Thru works is you find a restaurant you want to order from and then once you place an order the app will let you know how long your food needs to be ready and navigates you to the restaurant. You also have to describe your car type and color because once you get to the restaurant the app recognizes you’re there and informs the restaurant that you’re outside. If your food is ready the restaurant will then come outside and find your car to deliver the food. All payments are done digitally through the app and you can even communicate with the restaurant via a chat box.

It’s actually a very practical service and the app fees are minimal at just 200fils. The app also isn’t packed with thousands of restaurants either so if you just want to randomly browse through the options its actually doable. They also regularly have virtual drive-thru events like one taking place this weekend called Street Crafters. So if you want to try it out and download the app, here is a link to their website. They also have a cute Instagram account you can check out which is @vthru.

If you have an Apple Watch Series 4 or newer, you can now finally use the ECG feature on your watch. I’m not sure why this feature was previously disabled for Apple users in Kuwait but over the weekend Apple released watchOS 7 that enabled the feature for a few countries and Kuwait was one of them.

Apple Watch‌ Series 4, 5, and 6 users can generate an ECG waveform in just 30 seconds by placing their finger on the Digital Crown. The idea is that you can take this information to your doctor, if the results are abnormal, and use it as a basis to discover if you have any larger issues at hand.

The irregular rhythm notification feature also intermittently checks heart rhythms in the background and sends a notification if an irregular heart rhythm is identified that could potentially be atrial fibrillation (AFib).

Atrial fibrillation is a health condition that often goes undiagnosed, so ECG app and heart rhythm alerts on Apple Watch will be highly useful for detecting early signs of disease. ECG readings also normally require a full ECG machine and a visit to the doctor, which is far less convenient than a reading taken with the Apple Watch. source

So if you have an Apple Watch download the latest update and try it out.

If you’re using the Kuwait Mobile ID app as an alternative to the physical Civil ID card, don’t upgrade your iPhone to iOS14. The app currently crashes on launch with iOS14 and even though there was an update to the Mobile ID app yesterday, it didn’t fix the crashing issue.

Thanks Andrew

Update: They just published an update for the app and it now no longer crashes. So if you’re having issues with the app, check the App store for an update.

The Ministry of Public Works have updated their complaints app with a brand new interface. The new app looks much nicer but also makes it easier to submit a complaint. The app is called “MPW Emergency 150” and it allows you to submit complaints related to public infrastructure like street or sewage issues. The app is available for both Android and iOS devices.

Now if only the Ministry of Interior can release a similar app…

Thanks Zaydoun

The Public Authority for Civil Information recently updated their app with some new interesting features. The app is now a phone-based Civil ID for identity verification. It will also be used for authenticating government and non-government eservices and serve as a trusted digital signature for electronic documents and transactions. That’s basically how it’s described in the app store but I don’t think you can use it yet for anything, at least not that I’m aware of.

I think we will start using it soon for online services as a means to authenticate ourselves as we are moving everything to a digital platform which is why I installed it and set it up. Set up is a fairly straight forward process if you have the newer smart Civil ID’s with the chips). Once you input your Civil ID number and serial number (from the back of your Civil ID) into the app, it will automatically pull all your information including address, photo, nationality, and other details. I’m actually looking forward to seeing what I can eventually use it for.

If you want to download it here are the links:
Apple iOS Version
Google Android Version

Last week Carriage and Talabat announced they were joining forces and that there were major improvements coming soon. Yesterday the first change arrived.

If you update your Carriage app to the latest version you’ll now see a bunch of major changes from a new updated interface, to the fact there are now over 2,000 restaurants listed. My first impression isn’t that great but only because it’s a pretty big change to an app I use on a daily basis. One of the first things I did after launching the updated app was going into my account settings and shutting off the options to receive Newsletter and SMS subscriptions. With this new update, the settings are turned on by default so if you don’t want to get spam, turn them off.

With this new update, Talabat has killed off some sections like Electronics and Flowers but left the Grocery section. The biggest change though is the increase in the number of restaurants available through the app since they’ve now added all the Talabat restaurants to the Carriage app. The new total is around 2,200 restaurants which is pretty crazy and means Carriage users now have access to some previously Talabat exclusive restaurants like PICK. Another major change is the fact there are restaurant ratings now so once your order is completed, you can now rate the restaurant you ordered from. Carriage Black still works since I see the discount being applied when I’m checking out, but other than on the checkout page, I can’t seem to find any info on it anywhere in the app which leads me to believe this might be something Talabat will be killing very soon (I hope not).

There are also changes happening behind the scenes. Talabat’s drivers will now start handling all the Carriage deliveries and Talabat will also be handling all the Carriage payments and customer support. The delivery radius has also decreased so some places that used to deliver to my place no longer deliver.

I’m curious to see how this new Carriage and Talabat partnership continues to develop. Hopefully, it means better overall service and experience since that was one of the major complaints people had about Carriage. Right now I care more about Carriage Black than better customer service so hopefully, they don’t phase it out.

There is this app called FaceApp which allows you to change your age, hair color, hairstyle and other features, but unlike other apps that do similar effects, this one is actually incredibly realistic. Like scary realistic. Been having fun with it all morning so if you haven’t tried it out yet it’s available on both iOS and Android devices. Link

If you want to get plants but don’t feel like going to the nurseries, the Mashatel app is a good alternative.

The Mashatel app allows you to buy plants and gardening gear from the nurseries in the same way Carriage allows you to buy food from restaurants. The app divides the plants into indoor and outdoor categories, you choose which you want and then browse through the available plants. When you click on one it will give you more details on the kind of plant it is, and how to maintain it. Pretty helpful if say you’re looking for something that doesn’t require a lot of watering for example.

Delivery prices vary depending on where you live but they start at KD2 and go up to KD10 if you want to deliver to Khiran. The app is available for both iOS and Android devices and you can download it from here.

I posted about the ReQueue app last year, it’s an app that allows you to add yourself to a restaurants waiting list before getting to the restaurant. When I posted about ReQueue the only restaurant on it that interested me was Table Otto, but I’ve stopped going there so I stopped using the app.

But, recently a friend made me aware you could reserve a table at one of my favorite breakfast places, Lunch Room. Lunch Room is small and always busy on weekends, and unlike Cocoa Room, I can’t call in ahead to add myself to their waiting list. Now with ReQueue, that issue is sorted.

There are more restaurants on ReQueue now so might be worth checking it out again. It’s available for both [iOS] and [Android] devices.

The Kuwait Maps app is a new mapping app that is integrated to Google Maps but has one big advantage over it, the app allows you to search for an address in the format we’re used to here in Kuwait:

Area, Block Number, Street Number/Name, House Number.

The way the app works is very simple and fast. When you first run it you choose which area you’re in, then what block number you’re looking for followed by what street and finally what house number. The app will then find the location for you and allow you to navigate to it using Google Maps.

Right now the app is only available for iOS but will be available for Android phones in the future. The app is free and if you want to try it out you can find the app download link on their website [Here]

Carriage updated their app today bringing with it two major changes:

1) The app no longer plays a video on launch
2) The app now saves your credit card details

The video on launch was super annoying so glad they got rid of it. The second update, on the other hand, is a pretty big one. If you go to your profile settings you can now add your credit card to the app. This also works with Knet even though the app will treat it as a Visa card. You add your Knet card to the app and when checking out, choose credit card as your payment method. If you added your card correctly, you should get a small pop up asking you to select the card you want to use to place your order. No more having to type out your card number again.

With Deliveroo launching really soon I’m guessing we’ll be seeing a bunch of new features and possibly promotions and an updated pricing system from Carriage. Should be fun!

Can you please remove the super annoying video that plays every time I launch your app? Your app now shuts off my music and podcasts whenever I open it, and the fact that I have to wait 6+ seconds for the video to finish before the app starts loading is even more annoying.

Thank you!

Update: Carriage just informed me they’ll be removing the video next week!

I’m thinking about getting a Pelican case for my camera gear and so the first place I checked was at Al-Sabih. But, not only did they not have the sizes I was looking for, what they did have was expensive, like double Amazon prices expensive. For example:

Pelican 1520 Case with Foam
Al-Sabih = KD73
Amazon = KD34

Then I remembered someone once mentioned a store called FITCO Systems once that also sold Pelican cases. So I googled FITCO and found pictures of what looked like a stationary store / hardware store / electronics store. I asked the guys in one of my WhatsApp groups about the store and a friend told me its a very weird place, so weird that he couldn’t explain what the store sold and that I had to go see it for myself.

FITCO Systems is located in Kuwait City right next to Tatami and behind Solo Pizza. When I first walked in I asked about Pelican cases and they have them. Their prices were also pretty reasonable:

Pelican 1400 Case with Foam
FITCO = KD32
Amazon = KD30

Pelican 1500 Case with Foam
FITCO = KD48
Amazon = KD43

Pelican 1600 Case with Foam
FITCO = KD65
Amazon = KD48

Anyway here is the interesting part. I started walking around the store to see what they sold exactly and they had so much random stuff all over the place. The store has been around since 1986 and I think they deal with businesses and wholesale (B2B) more than with consumers. So the store isn’t really in tip-top condition which is why I kept digging up so much vintage stuff.

The store has a ton of items still on the shelves from when they had opened back in 1986, items that are no longer useful but they’re still selling. The place is like a time capsule and I think I spent an hour flipping through their shelves taking photos of everything from Palm Pilot modems to storage cases for 5 1/4 Floppy Disks. They had brand new Windows 98 boxes as well as Microsoft Plus! 98. They had discontinued FujiFilm FP-100C instant film, old Nikon 35mm film scanners, a whole bunch of 8mm backup tapes and cartridges, old webcams, and just a huge amount of random items piled up everywhere. I shared a bunch of photos on my instagram story @mark248am if you want to take a look.

If you want to check the place out yourself, here is their location on [Google Maps].
They also have a website but like the store, it also looks like it hasn’t been updated since the 90s [Link].

We launched our PantryBee iOS app yesterday and Mark asked me to write about why we made that decision for our business. As a small business with limited cash reserves, it’s always hard to make the decision to invest in a new platform, and it was a year of back and forth before we decided to finally go ahead.

Why did we do it? Well, it’s obvious to everyone that mobile usage is super high in Kuwait, and that a lot of purchases are done through mobile. We knew that, but we also wanted to verify against our own traffic. So after a year of data collection, we did find that most of our users were indeed purchasing PantryBee meal kits from their phone and that the majority of those were iPhone users. Armed with that info we decided to go for it. The biggest hurdle, of course, was cost. We didn’t have thousands of KD to throw on something that might not be useful, so we went about it as economically as we could with the goal of making our customers experience better.

The first step to creating an app is setting up an account with the Apple Developer Program. This honestly wasn’t that difficult of a process, there’s just a bit of waiting time in order to be verified as a legitimate business. The second step for us was finding an appropriate third party to assist with the App creation process. Seeing as we already had an existing e-commerce backend (Shopify), we searched for companies that had an app that would integrate with the Shopify platform. The whole process from A-Z took about 3 months to get to the current app we have out right now.

Though our site is already mobile friendly, our new app allows a more seamless navigation of our offerings, including app-specific promos, notifications and more. It has all the info and products available on our site, just better suited to a mobile experience. So head to the app store and tell us what you think! You can download our app from this [Link]

If you have any specific comments or want to know more about the process for your own business, feel free to email us at [email protected] and we’ll try and help as much as we can.

Post by Hind
CoFounder of PantryBee where home cooking is made easy.