A Look at the Most Popular Arabic Apps for iOS
Developing smartphone apps has been a dominant trend in the
Middle East market. Thanks to low costs and the appeal of quick
returns, many developers in the Arab region have turned to iPhone
apps in particular as an opportunity to monetize.
Apple offers a localized App Store version in 12 Arab countries:
Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar,
Saudi Arabia, Tunis, the UAE and Yemen. Here's a quick look at the
top 10 apps in these local iPhone App Stores, which were the 10
most downloaded apps at time of writing.
Saudi Arabia
- 5 out
of the 10 most popular applications on the KSA App Store were
created by Arab developers.
- The
most popular applications downloaded by Saudi users were service
apps: Tafasseel, for reporting traffic violations, Kashef, a
traffic monitors locator, and Dalila for land navigation.
- App
prices ranged between 4 and 18 Saudi Riyals.
- iTechno alone developed the 2 highest-selling apps among the top 10.
Egypt
- The most popular apps among Egyptian
users were not originally Arabic, despite the fact that a large
number of iPhone apps developers are Egyptians.
- Currently, the biggest hit apps on
the Egyptian market are Anghami, Talawati and Hotlines Egypt.
- The Arabic application with the
widest success in App Store Egypt is
Anghami, a platform dedicated to music lovers who can enjoy and
download the latest Arabic and international releases, while
discovering more music genres that suit their tastes.
- Talawati is a prayer recitation application. Hotlines Egypt is a simple servicing app that shares telephones numbers of the major service establishments and emergency references in Egypt.
United Arab Emirates
- Anghami is also among the top 10 apps in the UAE.
- InstArabic and TextArabic are 100% Arabic applications that scored high rankings on the UAE iPhone app store. The first offers editing options for pictures, with a special Arabic calligraphy writing feature, while the second allows users to write with ornamented Arabic calligraphy and share creations with friends.
Kuwait
- Anghami maintains its spot among the most
frequently downloaded apps in the Arab region, including
Kuwait.
- At #2
is Es’al Mjarreb (Ask an Expert) is a local application that allows
users to review and appraise local Kuwaiti services and
companies.
- Grand Cinemas Kuwait is another local app for movies lovers who like to be updated on calendars and on the latest releases in Grand Cinemas complex in Kuwait, or who wish to purchase tickets online.
