Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
Mobile phone giant, Huawei, has announced the winning entries for its Huawei HMS App Innovation Contest, stylised as AppsUP, with developers from across the regions impressing judges with their innovative approaches to app creation.
Participants were encouraged to push the full potential of HMS Core and innovative new experiences for Huawei device users.
The inaugural competition challenged app developers across the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region and beyond to create exciting applications that help people in their daily lives.
The winners from the MEA region will share $200,000 cash prizes in total, funded by Huawei’s Shining-Star Programme.
The Huawei HMS App Innovation Contest evaluated more than 150 mobile applications from five regions: Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, Latin America and China.
The successful entries were shortlisted due to the creativity and the imagination their apps showcased.
The MEA region category winners hope their success can inspire more people to develop apps and help grow the region’s eco-system.
The apps were placed in regional sections and split between six categories and tje Middle East and Africa (MEA) category winners were:
MEA App of the Year x 1: AMAN from Jordan
Best App x 5: My Pregnancy Journey App from South Africa, Almosally App from Egypt, Deaf Sign Language App (ASL) from Pakistan, Med from Tunisia, Women Workout from Morocco.
Best Game x 3: FPS Encounter Shooting 2020: New Shooting Games from Pakistan, Bike Stunt Race Master Motorcycle Game from Pakistan, and Gauntlet from South Africa.
Best Social Impact App x 3: My Pregnancy Journey App from South Africa, Deaf Sign Language App (ASL) from Pakistan, and Almosally from Egypt.
Most Popular App x 1 (according to the download & voting): Almosally from Egypt.
Honorable Mention x 12: Slug Hunter from South Africa, Color FIll Puzzle from Algeria, Load Shedding Notifier from South Africa, RafiQ from Algeria, 9arib from Egypt, Colorwheel from Egypt, Katamars + Orsozoxi from Egypt, Decipher Word from Morocco, photo editor from Morocco, Message of happiness from Egypt, Q Dictionary from Egypt, and Ordera from Egypt.
The winners will share in a regional prize money allocation of $200,000 as part of the total $1 million from the Shining Star developer program for the competition.
The top five apps receive $15,000 each; the top three games get $15,000; the top three apps with the best social impact are awarded $15,000; The most popular app will win $5,000, while the 12 honorable mentions receive $2,500 each.
From the Best App category, My Pregnancy Journey app developer from South Africa commented: “Being part of the global Huawei Apps Up Contest has been a great journey for us and we are very excited about the future.
“Huawei does so much for tech entrepreneurs like myself. This award is going to change the course of our app and now finally we can start becoming a global contender and start making that social impact that we so badly want to do.”
From the Best Game category, the South African Developer of the game, Gauntlet commented: “We entered Gauntlet into Huawei Apps Up 2020 Contest because what the contest was offering in terms of learning and exposure was invaluable. The opportunity to take our games to the next level was something we couldn’t ignore.
“We had our biggest successes to date on the Huawei AppGallery. And the Apps Up 2020 Contest format was fantastic. What truly helped us integrate HMS Kits into our games was the official and available resources from Huawei.
“We found the official documentation was the best source. We stuck with that and it paid off. And the local support from Huawei was unmatched. For Gauntlet, we incorporated the Huawei Ads Kit, Account Kit, and Game Kit, among others, to allow users to more easily connect with the game and create a more engaging experience. I just want to extend my gratitude to everyone in Huawei.”
Speaking on the honours, the Managing Director, HMS and Consumer Cloud Service for Huawei Consumer Business Group MEA, Mr Adam Xiao, said: “The category winners of the inaugural Huawei HMS App Innovation Contest, AppsUP fully deserve their success. Developers in the MEA region impressed judges with the creativity and innovation seen in their apps.
“By using the power of HMS Core, developers were able to create unique experiences for Huawei users that help them in their daily lives. We hope that their success can inspire a new generation of app developers in the MEA region to push their imaginations and skills and create exciting experiences for Huawei device users.”
The HMS ecosystem and Huawei AppGallery is already bringing new content and digital services to over 700 million Huawei users in 170+ countries and regions.
