Race begins in UAE to develop ‘killer app’ for Apple Watch

The Apple Watch is not yet officially available in the UAE, yet a handful of local companies, including The National's sister publication, and government entities have already built applications for it.

Omar Kassim, the head of JadoPado.com, says there are particular challenges in developing an app for the Apple Watch. Reem Mohammed / The National

A killer app has not yet emerged for the Apple Watch – but a recent software update for the much-hyped gadget suggests it is only a matter of time.

The watch, which launched on April 24 to mixed reviews, is not yet officially available in the UAE, but a handful of local companies and government entities have already built applications for it.

Dubai Police, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and Al Ittihad newspaper – The National's Arabic-language sister publication – all have Apple Watch downloads listed on the App Store.

Yet tech experts say it is still early days for local Apple Watch apps, despite the frenzy of excitement over the latest device from the world’s No 1 technology firm.

Omar Kassim, the chief executive of JadoPado.com, a Dubai-based online marketplace, says only a few “super successful” mobile applications have come from the Arabian Gulf region.

And building something that works on the smaller screen of the Apple Watch is an additional challenge – especially for companies attempting to build an app for profit, rather than just promotional appeal.

“It is very difficult to execute really well, get traction and actually turn it into something commercially viable,” Mr Kassim says.

"Most mature markets and app developers got the first versions of their apps completely wrong," he adds. "The apps that have come out so far are trying to do a bit too much, cram in more functionality than they should be doing, and then eventually being redesigned to be more simple."

Other UAE entities to have launched Apple Watch apps include the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, the UAE Ministry of Finance and Emirates.

The Dubai airline’s watch app, which launched in April, gives live flight status updates and baggage collection details, and supports English, French and German.

“Our team developed the Emirates app … with modern travellers in mind, making sure this wearable technology delivers key information, with a simple glance at their wrist,” Alex Knigge, senior vice president of digital at Emirates, said at the time of the launch.

Like all early third-party Apple Watch applications, it works as an extension to an accompanying iPhone app.

That is something the Apple boss Tim Cook says is changing. The chief executive announced last week that an Apple Watch software update – the watch OS2 – allows developers to build native applications that work independently of users’ iPhones. Following the update, apps are also able to play video and have more control of features such as the Apple Watch heart-rate sensor and microphone.

Mr Kassim says native Apple Watch apps have a much greater potential for local developers to make a profit, rather than just put out something with "wow factor".

“I can’t see any real ‘money spinners’ being available just yet. Hopefully once things go native, we should see a few more original ideas versus purely companion apps,” he says.

JadoPado.com is listing imported Apple Watches starting at Dh1,529. Mr Kassim says sales are “decent”, but still mainly among early adopters.

“It remains an acquired taste … I don’t think it is ready for mass-market adoption yet,” he says.

Mr Kassim says he uses an Apple Watch personally – but finds the most useful function to be the notifications from his iPhone, such as incoming calls and messages. Developers of Apple Watch apps agree that it is still early days for the technology.

Elephant Digital Media, part of the Dubai advertising firm Elephant Nation, has developed the UAE’s first home-delivery tracking app for the Apple Watch.

The Watch Your Food app, which is set for launch this month, tracks orders placed at Circle Café in real time. Customers still need to place an order through the website or smartphone app, but the progress of the delivery can be sent to their Apple Watch.

Nooruldeen Agha, the managing director of Elephant Nation, says the Circle Cafe app is set to be the first within the food and beverage industry developed in the UAE.

But despite people being hungry for real-time updates on their deliveries, Mr Agha acknowledged that the jury is still out on the Apple Watch.

“We still don’t know if it’s really going to work or not,” he says.

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