Apple recently opened its first store in Israel, but for some bizarre reason, the iPhone is not available for sale there. Even though Israelis are not able to purchase one yet, developers are cranking out iPhone apps like hotcakes. Some apps are Jewish-themed, others are completely mainstream.
The Israeli iPhone apps:
Fring – By Fringland
VOIP on your iPhone. Israeli startup Fring started as a web service and expanded to mobile. The Fring app enables users to make free Voice over IP calls using Wifi connections. Fring also offers a powerful instant messaging feature – creating one searchable contact list with all your instant messaging buddies from Skype, MSN Messenger, Google Talk, ICQ, Twitter, Yahoo! chat and AIM. See the user guide for in-depth information and be aware that they guys are still working on a few quirks.
The Fring app is available for free, compatible with the original iPhone, iPhone 3G or iPod touch. Unfortunately, O2 in the UK won’t allow the free calls….
See the video:
A Personal Assitant – by PageOnce Inc
Get to all your personal accounts, password-free, from one page. Monitor banking, stocks, airline miles, credit card balance, cell minutes, Netflix acocunt, social calendars, email – you name it. The Israeli startup PageOnce initially launched on the web (see VC Cafe’s coverage), and was accepted with partial success – primarily because of privacy and trust concerns (see the site’s security stamps below). PageOnce uses 128bit SSL encryption and has been claimed to have bank-strong security. Going mobile completely changed PageOnce’s adoption rate – the “personal assitant” iPhone app has been on the top of the download lists for quite a while. See the images below:
A Hebrew-English pocket dictionary. This cool little app will cost you $4.99, but it can come very handy for those travelling in Israel. Search basic words and phrases and you will surely impress people in the next party! Coverage of words is quite limited based on the user feedback, but a major update is expected to come soon.
Another one in this category is WordPower, which you can get for ten bucks. Helps you master 2000 of the most frequently used Hebrew words.
Shabbat Shalom – Developer RustyBrick
The Shabbat application allows observant Jews to quickly check candle lighting times, check the parsha of the week, know when to call your inlaws in Israel, etc.
Shofar – RustyBrick
Listen to the shofar sounds right from your phone. Click on the shofar sound you want to hear, set the phone to vibrate, and feel like you’re in the synagouge. Interesting request from the developers: “please refrain from using the app during the high holidays”.
Also check Tehilim (if you really have the urge to recite Psalms on your mobile)
Parve O Meter – by the Jewish Learning Group
Very helpful app for those trying to keep a Kosher diet. Once you determine the level of observance (very interesting feature), the app tells you when you can eat meat after drinking/eating dairy.
iBlessing – by the Jewish Learning Group
Another free app by the JLG. This app helps practicing to Jews to recite the prayers before meals, even if they’re not fluent in Hebrew. Translations of the meal blessings to English are also available.
Have more iPhone apps made in Israel? drop us a note!
I'm a former general partner at google ventures, head of Google for Entrepreneurs in Europe and founding head of Campus London, Google's first physical hub for startups.
I'm also the founder of Techbikers, a non-profit bringing together the startup ecosystem on cycling challenges in support of Room to Read. Since inception in 2012 we've built 11 schools and 50 libraries in the developing world.
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