Updated 27 December, 2019
On Monday 1 July, 2019, we official launched, Inside St Helena, the island’s very first, dedicated app.
It’s a FREE, travel and information themed App, created to be equally as useful for visitors as for locals by providing fast and simple access to virtually all businesses, services and attractions on St Helena.
Inside St Helena is available in both Google Play and the App Store.
Feedback is welcomed via our Contact Page.
What does Inside St Helena Do?
Inside St Helena has one, very clear, mission:
…to connect visitors quickly and easily to what St Helena has to offer.
To quote our tag line:
“Everything at your Fingertips.”
The App is a modern day, interactive visitor guide and business directory that fits in your pocket and goes anywhere.
Inside St Helena is a free App that installs on smartphones and tablets.
Used on St Helena with a local, Sure SIM card installed, the App allows direct phone access with one-touch dialling to the listed businesses, services and attractions.
We are not recommending or endorsing the Profiles listed on Inside St Helena, rather, we are simply providing a platform that allows businesses, organisations, attractions and service providers to be easily found.
Read our Disclaimer here.
How To Get The App
The App is available from both the Google Play store for Android devices and also Apple’s, App Store, for iOS devices. Go to your preferred store and search for Inside St Helena, you will find our yellow Terry the tortoise icon listed at the top.
Cost Of The App
The App is free to download and use.
How To Use The App
Click Here to view our handy user guide.
Who Is Behind Inside St Helena?
Inside St Helena is a completely private venture by the two of us, Darrin and Sharon Henry, St Helenians who live on the island.
Although the project is a private effort, the leap-of-faith by the first Profile holders on the App – 56 different island organisations and individuals – was absolutely key to making the launch possible. Their belief in both the concept and our ability to deliver the service was humbling.
Adding New Businesses to the App
New businesses and organisations have steadily joined the App since launch, and by the end of 2019, six months since launch, there were over 80 businesses represented across nearly 200 individual Pages.
We are always pleased to welcome new additions to the App. Please get in touch if you are interested in having a Profile.
Very First St Helena App?
We believe Inside St Helena has been St Helena’s very first dedicated app.
The Journey To Get Inside St Helena
It was a real goose-bump moment for us, when we were finally able to reveal a project that was conceived exactly two years earlier, in June 2017, during a visit to Cape Town for our photography blog, What The Saints Did Next.
On part of that trip we were kindly supported by Cape Town Tourism. We were inspired by their communication and visitor interaction material, and right away knew St Helena could benefit from this type of engagement; an approach that was all about, enabling easy connections.
So we started planning!
Aborted First Launch
After a lot of work, we were right on the brink of launching in March 2018. The finger was hovering over the button, so-to-speak, however, at the last second we aborted. The situation on St Helena at the time suggested we might have struggled to succeed.
There were a few competing ventures that had recently started up and we felt the island was not big enough to absorb another similar service at the time.
Second Time Lucky
In January 2019 we ‘unlocked’ the project box once more, and this time it felt right.
Working through midnight to 6am each day, in order to access the vital free internet connection during that time period, we carefully began learning the app building process.
A Two-Year Secret Uncovered
At the beginning April, 2019, we knew we needed a convincing presentation if local businesses were going to sign-up to something completely new for St Helena. Our target was to secure 50 Profile Accounts before the official launch.
Reverting to a tried & trusted format we know well, we produced a 12-minute video to present our App idea.
On 1 May, 2019, we began a series of one-to-one presentations across the island, asking businesses and organisations to invest and entrust their digital marketing with us. It was also the first time in nearly two years of planning that we had revealed the idea to anyone.
May, The Month Of Meetings
After an intensely busy month, on Wednesday 29 May, 2019, we quietly celebrated the successful acceptance of Inside St Helena into the Google Play app store. Over the next two days we arranged secret testing from South Africa, UK, Ascension Island, St Helena and the US. All seemed to be working ok.
On Friday 31 May, 2019, we notified each of the App’s initial Profile Account holders, allowing them the weekend to test and give feedback before we revealed the project to the public.
Finally, at midday on Monday 3 June, 2019, we announced live-testing of our very first App, Inside St Helena.
Late on Friday 21 June, 2019, Inside St Helena was available from Apple’s, App Store.