Omani twins launch Android version of app dedicated to HM

MUSCAT: A day before Oman’s 45th National Day in 2015, two young Omani twins were featured in Oman Pride for their mobile application dedicated to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said. The app gave users a treasure chest of information regarding His Majesty, all at the touch of their fingers.

On this year’s 46th National Day, a new Android version of the app went online. The app initially was only available from the iTunes App Store, but luckily for Android users, the free download is now available on Google Play.

The apps’ central focus is the hashtag “The People Love His Majesty”. It will provide people throughout the world with an opportunity to witness how Omanis and non-Omanis love Sultan Qaboos. The app includes dua (prayers) for His Majesty and Oman, poems, music and news. It also archives all speeches by His Majesty, from 1970 to the present.

Al Harith and Faris Al Juma first launched the app in 2013. It had more than 1,200 photos, which could be saved and shared via Whatsapp, email, Airdrop and other apps. According to Al Harith, the iOS version saw more than 15,000 downloads, and they are expecting similar results for the Android version.

“It is a commonly held belief that since we already have an iOS version, the transition to Android would be straightforward. However, Android has a different development environment and uses a different programming language. Actually, Android uses the Java programming language, whereas iOS uses Objective-C and SWIFT,” Faris said.

“Our idea for creating an Android version was that we wanted most people in Oman and around the world to be able to access this application and the information held within it. We hope that this will ultimately increase interaction with our application. As iOS and Android contribute to more than 95 per cent of the smartphone user market, we have been trying to develop this dual platform approach for sometime, as android is something new for us to develop,” he added.

The young Omanis improved the design aesthetic and user experience, which would also improve the user experience in both platforms. They then added more contemporary multimedia, such as speeches, videos and music. Their main focus was to reduce the size of the application, which they were able to compress by some 90 per cent.

According to Faris, the concept development of the app took 20 days, while developing the software took 3 months. The software was programmed using the Java programming language and Android Studio, which is the official integrated development environment for Android platform development. For iOS, the app was updated with regard to the interface design and additional features. This was achieved using Objective-C on Xcode, which is an integrated development environment for developing Apple software.

“National Day is special for everyone who is living in the great country of Oman. His Majesty The Sultan is the foundation of the Renaissance of Oman, and we celebrate His place in our heart as a nation on this day. In 1970, He made this promise to His people. He has fulfilled and exceeded His promise,” Faris added.