Grappetite Blog

Collect the best things a city has to offer for your trip with City Is Yours

Wed, 15 May 2013 14:02:03 -0400

City trips are fun… but how to find out what spots to check out? City Is Yours is a new concept that will guide you through your city of choice. It’s easy, fun and social: get advised on the best spots and collect them in one place: your phone. We just started working on the HTML5 mobile app for City Is Yours.

Harry Hamster kids picture book has hit the stores

Tue, 14 May 2013 08:12:00 -0400

Don’t push the buttons, Harry Hamster! is an exciting, good-humoured, interactive picture book for iPhone and iPad with games and sound effects. Harry is going to the spaceport, with his dad. There is just one condition: he is not allowed to touch any buttons. That’s not easy for a hamster who loves buttons… The book was written by the Dutch children’s books author Corien Oranje (she wrote over 40 books) and illustrated by illustrator and cartoonist Willeke Brouwer. We designed and developed this book for iPhone and iPad.

Harry’s story is written and spoken in English, Dutch, Indonesian and Frysk. Check this kids story book out on the app store.

Vacancy experienced mobile app designer

Tue, 07 May 2013 01:48:00 -0400

At Grappetite we design and develop mobile apps (iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Phone). We are working with a small team of 10 talented designers, developers, project managers and testers. We don’t care about office politics or function titles, but rather aim for excellent products and more than satisfied clients with a team that feels like a family.

We are looking for a designer with at least 2 years experience with design for apps and/or at least 4 years experience with design for websites. You have:

- a portfolio that proofs your experience
- the ability to manage yourself and your workplace
- a proactive attitude
- a love for user interface sketching and wireframing
- proficiency with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop
- basic understanding of how developers will implement your design in the software
- good communication skills, both orally and written (English)

Please send your CV and (a link to) your portfolio to Amjad, amjad@grappetite.com, before 15 May 2013.

Grappetite ranked as one of the top mobile application developers in Europe

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 10:46:00 -0400

We have recently been ranked as one of the top mobile application developers in Europe by Sourcing Line, an organization who does independent research on IT companies. Sourcing Line added us to their leaders matrix, recognizing the quality of our work and communication.

We are proud of our listing between Europe’s app development big shots, considering that we have not even celebrated our 2nd birthday yet. The full list is available here.

Leave an iPad in a designer's hands and you get this...

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 08:31:00 -0500

Faraz, one of our designers, took an iPad with the home over the weekend and today we found this in the ‘Paper’ app…

It is a great app, by the way. You should try it at home too… kids love it too… We use it quite often for quick sketching / concepting and wireframing.

Halaat-O-Meter featured at Al Jazeera

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 21:39:00 -0500

Halaat-O-Meter is the crowd sourced platform we recently launched to enable residents to posts update on their neighbourhood during times of trouble. The initial response of, especially, the people of Karachi was overwhelming and today we found that Halaat-o-meter is even featured at Al Jazeera. Anyone can report the current situation in his neighborhood (we call this the ‘halaat’, in Pakistan) on a real time map.

It is actually very sad that Halaat-O-Meter seems to fulfil a need of the people of Karachi. Last weekend over 80 people died in the city of Quetta when the Shia Hazara community, a minority in Pakistan, was attacked. As a result of this protesters hit the streets of all major towns and cities of Pakistani, causing unrest that made people use Halaat-O-Meter.

Many minority groups in Pakistan including Hindus, Christians and different Muslim minorities have been under attack for years, the sectarian violence in Karachi has claimed over 2200 lives last year only.

"Don't push the buttons" app behind the scenes

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 21:58:00 -0500

We are currently working on the “Don’t push the buttons” app, a rich children’s picture book with lots of funny games. The book has been written by Corien Oranjeand is illustrated by Willeke Brouwer. Yesterday the voice recordings for the app were done in Ton Kerkhof’s studio in English, Indonesian, Dutch and Frysk. Thanks Richard, Anna Margriet and Mila!

The app will hit the app stores soon, so stay tuned! :)

Safety information by the crowd: halaat-o-meter

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 22:20:00 -0500

Our production office is based in Karachi (Pakistan), a great and vibrant city but not a typical place when it comes to safe traveling. As we, and our 20 million fellow citizens, often wonder if we can travel safely to certain areas of our city, we decided to build halaat-o-meter. A platform for anyone share the current safety situation in his neighbourhood, using Google Maps, Facebook and the user’s input.

‘Halaat’ is the word used in Pakistan for ‘situation’ and we feel that this platform is especially suitable for Pakistan, but it can be used in any place. This is only a first version, enhancement suggestions are welcome!

UI designer / front-end developer, Android app developer vacancies

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 02:49:00 -0500

We are very happy as a team, but we feel that we are missing the warmth, company and support of a talented UI designer / front-end developer and a driven Android app developer.

The UI designer / front-end developer we are looking for is a person who can sketch and design user interfaces of apps and websites, but who is not necessarily an all-round designer. And who can create the views for the apps we make and create HTML/CSS/jQuery for our websites, but is not necessarily a full swing developer.

You will work with our designers who are very much focussed on styles and illustrations and with our developers who deal with the core technology and help bringing out the best of these two worlds.

As an Android developer you will be… obviously… developing Android apps. We are looking for someone with at least one year experience as a full time Android developer or with at least 3 years experience on any other development platform.

At Grappetite we are building a succesful company and you can be part of it. We have a friendly but professional environment, focussed on the products we are making. We try to make things just a bit better and nicer then our clients or users would expect.

Apply now by sending your CV to Amjad and please tell us why you would like to work at Grappetite (just sending your CV is NOT what we expect).

Haris, Sobia, Asna and Yumna joined Grappetite

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 07:37:00 -0500

Last month we 4 new developers joined the Grappetite team. Sobia, Asna and Yumna will be developing iOS, Android apps and (mobile) websites while Haris will be leading the development team.

Left to right: Sobia, Yumna, Asna and Haris.

DevFest Karachi 2012 (Google Developers) report

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 22:20:00 -0500

Last week, the Google Developers Group Karachi organized GDG DevFest for the first time. It is an event for those interested in Google developers’ technology. And guess what…. we are too :)

One of our developers, Noor ul Ain Ali, volunteered at the event and wrote a reporton her blog. Check it out, it’s worth reading and gives some insights in how young, bright and motivated Pakistani people are catching up with the latest technology. And that’s exactly why Grappetite is based in Pakistan…

Season greetings from Grappetite

Mon, 24 Dec 2012 05:01:00 -0500

Grappetite wishes their valuable family, friends and business partners a Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2013!

May you find the timeless treasure of this Season, the warmth of home, the love of family and company of good friends.

Gertjan, Aiman, Amjad, Noor, Haris, Yumna, Asna, Sobia and Faraz.

iPad app for ZIG Websoftware

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 02:12:00 -0500

For ZIG Websoftware we just started working on an iPad app. For thirteen years, ZIG Websoftware has been developing internet solutions that focus on interaction and collaboration. Adding mobile to these solutions is just a logical step forward. We can’t share anything about the app yet, so stay tuned :)

We're hiring: mobile app and web developers (Karachi)

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 01:11:00 -0500

Would you like to become part of the team that is establishing a successful company? Apply today as mobile app or web developer at Grappetite.

Grappetite is a fun, creative and innovative place to work. We work in a passionated team of developers and designers on mobile apps for iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Phone and Blackberry. If an app goes with a website, we do the website as well. Our office is in Bahadurabad, Karachi (Pakistan).

We have vacancies for:

1) Experienced iOS developer, leadership role (at least 3 years experience)

2) Experienced Android developer, leadership role (at least 3 years experience)

3) iOS developer (fresh graduate)

4) Web (HTML, PHP/CodeIgniter) developer (fresh graduate)

UPDATE 26 NOV: We have found people for these vacancies. But if you think we are missing out on you, please drop us a line at office@grappetite.com and tell us why. Please include your CV or a link to LinkedIn as well.

Experienced iOS and/or Android developer (2 vacancies)

You learn fast and are passionate about building apps that work and look great. For complicated tasks, you create code that works like a breeze for the end user of the app. You are really good at Android: JSON/REST API’s, building on UI elements and multi threaded programming are like breathing to you. You know how to manage your own work.

We are looking for someone with demonstrated experience (at least 3 years) and proven track record in mobile app development. It would be nice if you have some experience on other technologies, such as web development or iOS as well.

To apply, please send your CV and links to at least 5 apps you have made in the past to Mr. Amjad Muhammad and mention the name of the vacancy in the subject.

iOS developer (fresh graduate)

You are about to graduate in Computer Science or something similar. You have worked a little bit with iOS and probably made your first iPhone or iPad apps. You know the theory of Object Oriented programming and its patterns and you started putting this into Objective C code.

We offer you a 2 months paid training at your work place, after which you will progressively start working on iPhone and iPad projects for clients. Once you are confident with iOS development you might want to learn Android and/or other platforms as well.

To apply, please send your CV and links to some apps you have made in the past to Mr. Amjad Muhammad and mention the name of the vacancy in the subject.

Web (HTML, PHP/CodeIgniter) developer (fresh graduate)

You are about to graduate in Computer Science or something similar. You have worked on a couple of database driven websites. You have a good theoretical knowledge of databases and TCP communication. You have basic knowledge of HTML, CSS, jQuery and PHP.

We offer you a 2 months paid training at your work place, after which you will progressively start working on websites and API’s for clients. Once you are confident with web and API development you might want to learn mobile app development as well.

To apply, please send your CV and links to some sites you have made in the past to Mr. Amjad Muhammad and mention the name of the vacancy in the subject.

Use crowdfunding to make your app idea happen

Fri, 02 Nov 2012 06:03:00 -0400

The Dutch startup SellanApp just launched their integrated platform to mock-up, crowd fund, develop and publish mobile Apps in the Apple App Store. It is like an auction of ideas: those with great ideas can describe and mock up their app and those who like the idea can invest in it.

We have a winner...

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 06:03:00 -0400

One of our bright developers, Noor ul Ain Ali, just walked into our office carrying a price she and her fellow student Hassan Parvez won today at ITCN Asia, the largest IT & Telecom Exhibition in Asia. They presented an idea for a medical emergency app. With this app people who don’t have a doctor around can quickly get advice on how to deal with medical emergencies. The phone’s camera will be used to analyze the picture and give an adequate advice. It sounded at first like a science fiction idea to us, but Noor and Hassan are quite serious about it.

Sitefinity iPhone app

Fri, 14 Sep 2012 05:50:00 -0400

For the Netherlands based web development agency Damar Media we just started working on an iPhone app that can be used to maintain any Sitefinity website. Sitefinity is the leading engine under the hoods of many popular sites including Coca Cola, Tata, Ikea AT&T and Nasa.

Yoohoo! NED University students! Click here!

Sun, 09 Sep 2012 16:03:00 -0400

Today Amjad, Aiman and Noor are representing Grappetite at the NED UniversityCareer Expo. We are trying to meet fresh graduates who are interested in starting their career as an iPhone or Android developer or app designer at Grappetite.

If you are a NED University student and you would like to participate in the competition and have a change of winning one of the five iTunes vouchers we are giving away, CLICK HERE TO PARTICIPATE! (competition is closed now)

Facebook fit app for fashion brand Belaqise

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 05:49:00 -0400

Belaqise, a fashion brand for young women, has asked us to create a Facebook app to easily calculate the ideal fit for their fashion. They have developed the unique Sheyp fitting model which will be implemented in the app. It makes it easy to find beautiful garments which fit great.

Belaqise is an innovative fashion brand for young women looking for a sophisticated and fashionable look. The Belaqise designers are inspired by the ancient Queen of Sheba who was praised for her beauty, strength and intelligence and brought prosperity and peace to her people.

Office closed for Eid holidays

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 01:22:00 -0400

From 20th - 24th August our office will be closed for Eid holidays. For urgent matters please email us at office@grappetite.com.