To make a mobile app in the UAE, design it from day one in two languages, Arabic and English, with an easy switch that remembers the user's choice. Use phone-number sign-in that accepts international numbers, payment by cards and Apple Pay with installments and cash on delivery where they suit your business, and prices in dirhams including 5% VAT. Verify your trade licence and data protection requirements with the official bodies. You can hire an agency or freelancer, or describe the app in Fanann, see it in a phone frame, try it on your phone and prepare it for both stores as one app.
- how to make a mobile app in the UAE
- mobile app development cost in Dubai
- app development company in Dubai
- Arabic and English mobile app
- how to launch an app in Abu Dhabi
- do I need a licence to launch an app in the UAE
What is different about making a mobile app in the UAE?
Making a mobile app in the UAE means building for an audience that is not alike: citizens and Arab residents who prefer Arabic, residents of dozens of nationalities who deal in English, and tourists who open the app for three days and leave. The app that succeeds here does not pick one of them; it serves them all without anyone feeling like a guest in someone else's language.
Illustration- Language
- Arabic and English from version one
- Sign-in
- Phone number, international numbers accepted
- Payment
- Cards and Apple Pay, then installments
- Tax
- 5% VAT included in the price
- Currency
- UAE dirham
- Stores
- App Store and Google Play with one app
The five ways to build are compared in how to make a mobile app. Here we focus on what is specific to the UAE.
Arabic, English or both: how do you design for a bilingual audience?
The question is not which language to pick but how to make both equal in quality. Users notice at once when one of them is the 'second version'.
- The language button is buried in settings
- Product names in English inside the Arabic interface
- Direction does not flip, so Arabic leans left
- Notifications in one language for everyone
- Store listing in English only
- Language chosen on the first screen and remembered
- Every product and service has a name and description in both
- The whole interface flips: arrows, menus, navigation
- Each user gets notifications in their language
- Store listing and screenshots in both languages
- Start with the device language, then let the user change it in one tap.
- Write both texts; do not translate one: 'Order now' and its Arabic equivalent are each written their own way.
- The admin panel requires both fields: no product is saved without Arabic and English names.
- Currency and numbers: 'AED' in English and the Arabic abbreviation in Arabic, with clear digits in both.
- A third language? Add it only if your data shows a large share of customers need it.
More in a bilingual Arabic and English website and Arabic interface mistakes.
How do people in the UAE sign in and pay?
| Item | Common habit | In your app |
|---|---|---|
| Sign-in | Phone number and a verification code | Default to the +971 country code and let visitors and new residents change it |
| Cards | Visa and Mastercard, with the local Jaywan card arriving | A local gateway that supports them all in dirhams |
| Wallets | Apple Pay on iPhone and Google Pay on Android | Show the device wallet first, before card fields |
| Installments | Tabby and Tamara for mid-size and large purchases | Show beside the price where it suits your business |
| Cash on delivery | Still requested in some businesses and areas | Decide by your business and your return rate |
| Address | Area, building or villa name and flat number, usually no postal code | A map pin with fields for building name and access notes |
To compare gateways: the best payment gateway in the UAE. For installments: Tabby and Tamara for UAE merchants. For cash on delivery: is it still worth it.
Which app ideas suit Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the other emirates?
Illustration| Sector | App idea | The local detail |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurants and cafés | Direct ordering and branch pickup | Your own channel alongside delivery apps, with a menu in both languages |
| Salons and home beauty | Booking in the salon or a home visit | Area selection, travel fee and arrival time |
| Real estate | Listings and viewing bookings | Clients inside and outside the country, in two languages |
| Tourism and experiences | Trip and ticket booking | A tourist with a foreign number pays by card and wants instant confirmation in English |
| Home services and maintenance | A technician at a set time | Communities and towers with access instructions |
| Fitness and classes | Memberships and class booking | Monthly packages and single classes for visitors |
| Field teams | Job orders and photo reports | A multinational team that needs a simple interface in two languages |
Detailed guides: a restaurant ordering app in the UAE, a real estate app in Dubai and ordering through WhatsApp Business. More: mobile app ideas for small businesses.
What should you verify with UAE authorities before launch?
These are questions to put to yourself and to the relevant authority, not legal advice. Answers differ between the mainland and free zones and from one emirate to another.
What does it cost, and who builds it?
Dubai and Abu Dhabi have agencies and freelancers at every level, and quotes vary widely for the same brief. What moves the price is the number of user types, the two languages and their content, payment methods, integrations, then maintenance after launch.
Pick the one that sounds like you to see the advice.
Build a first version yourself with an AI builder and try it with real customers. If you need an agency later, you will arrive with a working app, not a slide deck.
Your description is ready because you know your business. Build the app and keep daily changes in your hands: a menu change, a new service, a seasonal offer.
An agency is reasonable. Require code ownership and accounts in your licence's name, and ask for a prototype that settles scope before pricing.
Factors in detail: app development cost in Dubai. A quick estimate: the app cost calculator.
How do you build it in Fanann for a bilingual audience?
With mobile apps in Fanann you describe the app in Arabic or English, typed or spoken, and state that you want both languages. You see the result in a phone frame, switch language to review direction and wording, then open it on your phone with a QR code.
Build a mobile app for a company running kayak tours through the mangroves in Abu Dhabi, called 'Madd'. The app is fully bilingual, Arabic (right to left) and English, asks for the language on the first screen and remembers it. Visitors browse tours (sunrise, sunset, night) with photos, duration and a price in dirhams including 5% VAT, pick a date and number of people, sign in with a phone number from any country code plus a verification code, then pay by card or Apple Pay. They receive a confirmation with the starting point on a map and a reminder three hours before the tour, in their language. Cancelling is allowed up to 24 hours before. The guide sees the participant list for each tour and marks attendance. The manager adds tours with names and descriptions in both languages and sees bookings and revenue.
Try it in FanannIf where data is hosted matters to you or your business clients, read data hosting in the UAE.
How do you launch on both stores and in both languages?
- Week 1Description, first version, accounts
Build the first version and start opening both developer accounts and the gateway account in your licence's name. These have their own timelines.
- Week 2A trial in both languages
Five users in Arabic and five in English, on iPhone and Android. Watch where each one stops.
- Week 3Payments and content
Test card and Apple Pay with small amounts, complete the content in both languages, and publish the live version.
- Week 4The stores
A listing and screenshots for each language, the test track, then the review request.
Planning to enter the Saudi market next? Payments, VAT and the working week differ; see the Saudi guide. More guides for this country are in articles for the UAE market.
Key takeaways
- Two languages are the base, not an extra: Arabic and English from version one, each written natively.
- Accept international phone numbers at sign-in; some of your customers are visitors or new residents.
- Cards and Apple Pay first, then installments and cash on delivery where they fit.
- Verify that your licence covers the app's activity and which data protection regime applies to you.
- Prepare the store listing and screenshots in both languages; each user sees the store in their device language.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a mobile app cost in Dubai or the UAE?
Do I need a trade licence to make an app in the UAE?
Should I start in Arabic or English?
Do I have to accept cash on delivery?
Does the app support foreign phone numbers?
How long does launch take?
Ask your AI assistant about this
Copy this prompt into the AI assistant you use, then add the details of your own case.
I am reading this guide: “How to make a mobile app in the UAE: a practical guide” https://fanann.com/en/blog/make-mobile-app-uae/ My question: how to make a mobile app in the UAE Use that page as a source and explain the answer step by step for my situation, tell me what to check before I start, and cite the page link.