Nowhere else could an app that reads the news while stuck in traffic be as useful as in Cairo. A panic button, “I am alive” signs, and a virtual nurse in a cell phone are only some of these 5 surprisingly creative apps crafted in the Middle East.
1. It’s a nurse in a cell phone–and it can save your life. A winner of the 2014 NYU Abu Dhabi Hackathon, digital nurse app Tabibi created by Emirati students reminds the elderly to take their medicine and alerts their emergency contacts with life saving information when health problems occur.
2. Yalahwy and the trigger button to get you out of trouble. Created in Egypt especially for Egyptian needs, Yalahwy includes a panic button and a timer to be used when you go out, so that you set the timer to the duration you anticipate your journey would take and if you do not deactivate it, it sends a message to all your Facebook friends if something is wrong.
3. Karmasnap, the chance to do good on the touch of a button. Imagine a non-profit in Dubai calling for volunteers to clean the beach or taking part in a fundraiser. The defines a campaign, identifies the location and the number of volunteers required, and sends them a notification.
4. Iqraaly keeps company during traffic jams. The Egyptian app allows users to listen to the headlines of the news or books, as it boasts an impressive downloadable library that includes clips from Al-Ahram, Shorouk News, Tahrir News, Youm7, Supermama, Akhbarak.net, 3ayez Akol, Eventtus, Diwan Bookstores, and Alef Bookstores.
5. I am alive, the joke that turned into a rescue tool. A Lebanese woman invented the app after a bomb went off in Lebanon and she felt the need to send the message to her beloved ones. It allows users to sign up and automatically get a list with their contacts’ statuses, so that in case of emergencies, they can update them at the click of a button.
