Software development knows no geographical bounds as these top notch Nepali apps showcase the credibility and utility of apps developed in Nepal.

 The smartphone gives you the power to invoke whatever you need at that moment at the touch of a button or a draw of a gesture. You are no more than a couple of swipes away from getting the information you need. You can very much say, the world is at your fingertips. In this tech-frenzy, the Nepalese demographic is known to be fairly active more so in the urban areas. Most of us have been waking up to the scorching bright display of a smartphone for over half a decade now. During this tera of smartphone evolution, we have seen the dawn of plenty of  Nepalese mobile apps developers. Since it doesn’t take more than a developer’s mind, his workstation and an idea to pounce on, smartphone apps have been mushrooming in the App Store and across the Play Store. In this edition, we look at few of the best utility apps brought to your phones by local developers that we believe deserve a spot on your homescreen.

 

Net TV Nepal: 

WHY? Don’t worry about missing your TV shows or live matches. Stream right away

Proud proprietor of the first IPTV application in Nepal, brought to you by New IT Venture Corporation, Net TV Nepal has become an instant hit in the Nepali market. Offering Live TV, Catch up TV, Video on demand and a ton of video content, Net TV Nepal app is your ultimate TV solution. Whether you are away from home or don’t own a television, facing power cut or whatever the reason might be, Net TV Nepal offers high quality TV content right at your smartphones. Currently, IPTV has also expanded to Set Top Boxes as digital TV solutions but we are mainly focused on its smartphone app that is available for both the Play Store and the App Store. Not all good in life comes for free so the high demand channels have a meager subscription fee involved. For maintaining identity, a user account setup is mandatory. This process can be shortened by social media plugins i.e logging in via  Facebook or Google accounts. As far as payment is concerned, Net TV has integrated esewa, ipay, sctpay  and scratch card systems for user’s convenience. What we love about Net TV is their quality of service and careful business planning which tries to tackle the local problems in Nepal that range from the lack of e-payment systems to poor internet. So far, the company has been able to deal with these issues quite well. Their aggressive expansion and improved features make Net TV a strong recommendation for all sorts of users.

 

Patro :

WHY? Get organised even on the Bikram Sambat calendar and know what holiday is coming up next.

Another commoner’s app that we believe every Nepali should have in their pockets is the Patro app. This one’s a two horse race. Hamro Patro and Nepali Patro have been at it since long ago to place themselves as the Nepali calendar app. It’s divided opinions as to which app is better. To give you some insight, Nepali Patro came in earlier and has the time to market advantage. However, released late, Hamro Patro was the quicker to latch on to newer design policies making the app polished. With over a million downloads on the Play Store individually, it would be safe to say that either pick won’t hurt however the two apps do diverge in terms of content policy as Nepali Patro is lighter and offers less number of features while Hamro patro strays away from calendars reminders and event tracking all the way to News, Radio, Videos etc. So go for Hamro Patro is more like an extended app that has plentiful to offer. If you’re just looking for a neat light calendar and nepali date tracking app, Nepali Patro is the apt piece of software for your phone. 

Esewa:

WHY? Take care of money business through your phone.
Today, it would be justified to assert that your phone is incomplete without a wallet service. In your quest for a smartphone to solve all your problems, a smartphone that cannot pay for your dinner date isn’t a phone smart enough. In this regard, the oldest and most voted online payment partner esewa is the name that immediately comes across your mind. While it doesn’t take a smartphone to conduct online transactions due to its convenient SMS feature, the smartphone app takes away the need for sms syntax that you’d need to know to engage in transactions. With a ton of merchants listed under them and a wide array of partner banks, F1 Soft has claimed the stronghold in the Mobile Wallet scene of Nepal. Using data connection (2G/ 3G) or Wifi for internet, the smartphone app helps you take care of bills top ups, transfers and your day to day finances. It is safe to say that you should no longer have to go through the trouble to get recharge cards or stay in queue for your cinema tickets.

 

Digital Nepal:

WHY? For the love of a truly Nepali app experience
The app tries to put all things Nepali on the digital realm. We recommend the app because of its broad horizon and a lot nifty features most of which may not be technical but useful in our daily lives. Although Hamro Patro gives this app a run for its money with a larger user base there is a huge overlap between the two apps in terms of features. This one has an appealing UI with tiled features that span across Nepali translation, news portal services, bullion, name suggestions and even the constitution of Nepal. If you follow things in Nepali and are attuned to Nepali language, this one’s for you. The entire app is carefully localized for a Nepali user.  

 

nLocate

WHY? Finding everything from banks to businesses, colleges or cafes.

Locating everything in the “np” domain, this savior of an app helps you get on the end of your nearest ATM of pick the nearest Italian eatery. The smartphone application is the local Google Maps that we all yearn for every now and then. A fairly mature app, nLocate has been around for a few years now and has tapped into the eager minds of the current generation looking for smarter ways to navigate. Although there hasn’t been competitive apps of such nature that provide a comprehensive lookup of points of interest, the app has fallen behind in recent times with infrequent updates and weak development. Since this is what we have at the moment, we should keep taking benefit of the services they currently offer and hope that they can work on the app for improved features and expanded directories.