TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Urbanites rely on smartphone apps to boost spirituality

For busy Jakartans, smartphones not only serve as tools for earthly matters but also for spiritual enlightenment, as many rely on apps that feature religion-based services

A. Muh. Ibnu Aqil (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Mon, December 10, 2018

Share This Article

Change Size

Urbanites rely on smartphone apps to boost spirituality

F

or busy Jakartans, smartphones not only serve as tools for earthly matters but also for spiritual enlightenment, as many rely on apps that feature religion-based services.

Irwan, 25, who uses his smartphone for many purposes, including to help him worship. He has downloaded an app called Muslim Pro to receive daily notifications on prayer times, to help find the qibla, read the Quran and even search for restaurants that serve halal food.

“The app is really useful, especially if I go out of town for work. The app is really helpful to find the qibla,” Irwan told The Jakarta Post, recently.

For Dwi Novitasari, 37, apps such as Muslim Pro help remind her of prayer times amid her busy schedule. “My schedule is quite packed, so I need a prayer reminder,” Novi said.

Besides Muslim Pro, she had also installed Quran and zikr (chanting in praise of God) apps so she could use them on the go without having to bring printed versions with her. Keen on the apps, Novi has also installed another app called Muslimnesia, which has special features not found on others.

Among the features are a softer adzan (call to prayer), fasting reminder and an online halal store right in the app.

“In Muslimnesia there’s a halal store, so if I’m craving snacks from abroad, I can just click [to purchase the snacks] and can also be sure that they’re halal,” Novi said.

Among the myriad of apps offering Muslims assistance in their daily religious practices in the Android Play Store, Muslim Pro is one of the most well-known. Developed by the Singapore-based Bitsmedia mobile app development company, the app has been installed in more than 10 million devices and received over a million 4.7 star ratings.

The app offered prayer schedules, qibla directions, maps of mosques and halal establishments, an zakat (alms) calculator, electronic copy of the Quran, among other features.

Meanwhile, Muslimnesia is a newcomer, developed specifically for the Indonesian market, founder Anie Rudjito said.

“We wanted the app to be a support system for Muslims in their daily lives, from learning, to praying, even to the point of searching for halal products,” Anie said.

The idea to develop the app came from the fact that as the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, the market for anything related to Islam is big. Especially, she said, the current “hijrah” phenomenon among Muslims had created higher demand for religion-related products.

Anie said many Muslims wanted to make sure they were only consuming halal products, which made her app come in handy. Launched on Nov. 9, the app has been downloaded 2,000 times.

Other urbanites besides Muslims also their smartphones to aid in their daily worship routines. Daniel Sagala, 23, frequently uses an app called WarungSaTeKaMu to read Christian spiritual articles.

“The app helps. Sometimes the articles that I read contain messages that I need to strengthen me spiritually,” Daniel said, adding that he had also started to read the Bible right on his smartphone at church instead of bringing a printed version.

WarungSaTeKaMu has been installed on more than 100,000 devices, according to the Google Play Store, and there are around 5,000 active users in Jakarta, according to WarungSaTeKaMu content developer Aryanto Wijaya.

He said the app aimed to help Christian youth by providing inspirational articles to bolster their faith.

“In the app, there are new articles every day. There also articles written by Christian youth for their fellow youth. There is also wallpaper featuring Bible verses for smartphones and art projects in the app to help bolster the faith [of the users],” Aryanto said.

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.