From Thailand to Ncell App Camp – Story of Thingsle

Nepal has been placed fifth in the list of places to travel in 2017 by Lonely Planet. So, a great app idea would be the one that lets people know where to go and what to do in Nepal. One of the newest of such apps is Thingsle. The word ‘Thingsle’ is a mixture of English and Spanish that means things for him/her. It is a social travel app that allows the users to discover new places and also share their favorite ones. It was founded by Kijan Maharjan and it officially launched on Sept 30, 2016.

Story so far

Plato said that “Necessity is the mother of invention.” And he has been proved right a countless number of times. This app is yet another proof of the statement.

The story behind this app goes back to 2013. Kijan had traveled to Thailand with his brother for 10 short days. They didn’t want to miss out on any of the places to visit and things to do. So, they scoured websites after websites, making a list with pen and paper. All this was very time-consuming and not as efficient as they had hoped it would be. They wanted a pre-made list where they could just check off completed items one by one; more or less like a good shopping list. And that’s how Kijan got the idea for the app.

Kijan started working on the app and formed his own team. His team participated in the Ncell App Camp 2015 where they were listed as one of the top five apps in the Travel category.

There are currently three members of the Thingsle team. They are Kijan Maharjan (product and vision), Kapil Maharjan (mobile lead) and Neeraj Dangol (technical lead). Together they launched the application on September 30, 2016. In just a few days after the launch, the app was able to gain 100 users and a rating of five stars based on the reviews of 19 users.

 How it works

This app is currently for the users in Nepal. People sign into their Facebook account and enter their username. Then they type in the city of their choice or select one from the home page. After choosing the city, the users are given a list of places to visit and things to do. The list is divided into different categories: food and drinks, sightseeing, nightlife, activities, events and shopping. After selecting a place (a park, a restaurant, etc) in the list, users can view the number of people that have visited the place and are using the application.

The users can also view the suitable time to visit the selected locations and read tips posted by other users. There is also a list of similar things to do. Users can rate the place by giving it hearts, post tips to a place and add places to their wishlist. The app also has the option of maps. They can also submit a new place. Every new submission is reviewed by Thingsle before posting it on the app.

Demo

Sector overview

Currently, in Nepal, there are a few travel apps such as Travel Nepal, Nepal Travel Guide by Triposo, Travel Nepal Guide with Me. But they do not fall in the social category. Still, these apps may prove to be competitions for Thingsle. Thingsle is similar to TripAdvisor but it claims to have an intuitive user interface. It has an easy to use to-do list and a list that is automatically sorted based on popularity.

Nepal has always had the problem of not being able to publicize its’ attractions. And so, such an app is very useful. At present, this app gives a limited number of cities in Nepal including Bandipur, Rara, Makwanpur, Ilam and Dharan alongside places such as Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, Chitwan, and Pokhara.

Problems and Plans

They have just launched their app and they are still learning what the users want from the app and how to get the users what they want. The team depends on users for genuine data that is not on other platforms. But regarding this dependency, all they have to say is, “We trust you and we trust our friends.” Thingsle’s team, the next step will be to implement trending features like 360-degree views of places in Nepal which can be posted by the users themselves.

Thingsle is a fresh app. It still needs content which can only increase with the increase in the number of users. If they can promote their app well, the users and thus the content will increase as well. All the best to the Thingsle team. Hope their app proves to be a success for them as well as for the tourism industry in Nepal.

Download Thingsle from Play Store