S’pore gets Halal Eating Guide iPhone app
By Willis Wee, Penn-Olson
There's an iPhone app for almost every thing you can think of: headbanging, backseat driving, measuring radiation and tracking the progression of scoliosis. Today, we learned that there's an app called "Singapore Halal Eating Guide" dedicated to Muslims in Singapore to help them find Halal eateries through their iPhone.
Launched earlier last month, this app essentially helps users search for Halal-certified establishments by means of, according to iTunes description:
The Establishment name
Establishment type (e.g. restaurant, café, hawker)
Cuisine type
Location
Proximity (i.e. eateries within a specified radius)
Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS), the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore, is the brain behind this iPhone app initiative. MUIS also recently launched a mobile website for this year's Ramadan where users can check for times to break their fast, listen to Koran verses, or even look up sermons. This is a very tech savvy organisation indeed!
The eating guide app is pretty interesting too. I tried it out and found that it will definitely come in handy any time that I need to find a Halal restaurant. That scenario wouldn't happen too much, but the app will certainly be useful for our Muslim friends in Singapore. Currently, it has a rating of 4.5 out of a possible 5 on iTunes.
Location-based features
The screenshot at the top shows all the Halal food stalls which are within a 1km radius of my current location. It also provides the exact address, a map and a contact number for the restaurant. It's also interesting to point out that MUIS has been quick to monetiz\se the app by placing ads within it. It doesn't disrupt the experience much though. Download the app here [iTunes link] and give us your feedback in the comments.
