Ramadan is already underway, and Apple continues their annual tradition across their entire platform ecosystem.
- App Store editorial team puts out their dedicated stories on collection of apps, yielding a boost to app downloads and usage
- Certain apps and games featuring special events, driving more usage activity and engagement
- Other Apple services seeing content curated collections/integrations
While I haven’t seen any official release sent out, that didn’t deter me. I’ve had to search much of the web to put this together as one consolidated feature. This spans the App Store (iPhone/iPad), Apple TV, Apple Music, and more.
While users in the Middle East and North Africa region can see most of them, you can access them using the links in the respective sections.
Covering the App Store Foundations
Have to start from somewhere, so the App Store’s editorial team has really put this as part of their Today section.
- Apple has their usual Essentials guide to apps as an entry point
- Then, it expands to trove of other apps focused on the ‘gift’ of Ramadan
- Diving deeper to see some favourites, the Ramadan Favourites gives you a taste of key apps on their events
- Focusing on Ramadan’s gifting aspect and tying into Family Sharing, Apple has even put a recommended list of Family Sharing-enabled apps for some inspiration
Entertainment, Music and Podcasting
MBC Shahid (the same one with the Epic Bundle and the Netflix one) is highlighting their Ramadan lineup and has even put a watch guide on the App Store. In addition, Shahid is integrating with Apple TV that pulls their Arabic content into a dedicated ‘Watch Together’ space for regional audiences. This requires an existing Shahid subscription for access.
Given how sleep patterns change during Ramadan, there’s a new sleep category under Apple Podcasts designed for Ramadan’s adjusted sleeping patterns. Apple Music isn’t left out, with a suite of special music collections/playlists available for the occasion. This includes new releases featuring tracks from artists including Maher Zain and Ali Magrebi.
Special App Activities
Even a host of apps are getting in on the festivities, whether it be gaming or even video/audio apps.
- CapCut shared a Ramadan-tailored guide to creating videos in 5 minutes.
- Discord lays out how gamers can juggle Iftar and Suhoor timings and even recommending a few servers.
- If you’re a Minecraft fan, they’ve highlighted the Ramadan Add-on for the main game.
Regional Availability
One thing I noticed is that some of these special events stories are geographically restricted to the Middle East region. Try to open them via deeplinking on your iPad/iPhone, and you’ll see an error stating that it’s not available in your region (i.e. your App Store region is not part of it).
- TikTok is doing a special event “LIVE for Blessings” in embracing the spirit of giving
- Snapchat is running a month-long special event ‘Celebrate Ramadan together’
All these Ramadan features are available across Apple Services platforms in the Middle East region. The editorial App Store collections will appear in the Today tab (you can even click on the links in the above sections). The Apple Music content is accessible to all subscribers at no additional cost.
Ramadan is celebrated worldwide, so why geofence the occasion to a few set of countries?
Drop your thoughts