KaiOS Technologies has announced a new Life, an in-house educational app for KaiOS-powered smart feature phones, is now available in Africa. KaiOS users in Nigeria, Uganda, Rwanda, and South Africa can now find the app available for download via the KaiStore, with more countries coming soon.
The Life app serves as a trusted educational resource for first-time internet users, and provides curated content in six categories, including Digital Skills, Education, Health, Gender Equality, Agriculture, and Financial Education. These resources help users navigate their internet experience, and are optimized for the non-touch screens of KaiOS-powered devices; as well as gain access to valuable information that can improve their lives.
To date, Digital Skills, Books, and Education are the most popular sections of Life, which is the eleventh most downloaded app in Uganda. Kai has partnered with groups such as Funzi, Worldreader, Care, Girl Effect, Tambero, Esoko, Cell-Ed, We Farm, iCow, and Ubongo, and continues to expand partnerships that deliver high quality educational resources.
The most accessed section overall is Digital Skills, which was developed from GSMA’s Mobile Internet Skills Training Toolkit (MISTT), a resource for organizations who want to introduce the mobile internet to first time mobile internet users. In addition to using the toolkit as the backbone of Digital Skills, a KaiOS focused module has also been added to GSMA’s MISTT material so trainers and frontline retail staff can learn about the key features of the operating system and how to explain to end users.
Claire Sibthorpe, head of Connected Society at GSMA, said, “The GSMA is committed to advancing connectivity amongst users who wish to access mobile internet for the first time. The Connected Society team is delighted to support Life, the KaiOS education platform alongside a dedicated module within our Mobile Internet Skills Toolkit. Together, our collaboration increases digital skills and helps address the affordability barrier, accelerating progress towards the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.”
