Arab News, Saudi Arabia's first English-language newspaper has just released their official app for Windows Phone. In addition to its domestic distribution in Saudi Arabia, Arab News has a wide range of international distribution, including United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Near East, North Africa, Europe and the USA. Arab News’ mobile app has been available for Android and iOS for a while already, and now Windows Phone users can have it too.
When you open Arab News, a list of Featured articles is shown up front. There are thumbnails to the left of the headlines.
In article view, you can increase or decrease text size. You can also add articles to favorites or share via Facebook, Twitter, or email. Clicking the three dots on the lower right corner at any of the main pages and then tapping favorites can access those articles.
One setting that you should know is Theme Binding. When this is on, the app uses your Windows Phone’s background color: light or dark. When this is off, the app background turns off white with dark text and green accent. The other two settings available are offline browsing mode and live tile.
If there’s a specific topic you’re looking for, check out Sections. You can browse through Featured, Kingdom, Economy, Opinion, Sports, Middle East, International, and Life and Style. You can also search for articles with the search button at the bottom of the screen.
The Arab News app also provides a Photo Gallery, but we think it can be improved. The photos do not have captions or links to articles for context. There’s also a video section.
We’re definitely glad to see more official apps making their way to Windows Phone. Arab News is a free download at the Windows Phone Store. Give it a try and let us know what you think in the comments!
