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Pet Widget, a social networking app for pets, launches in Singapore

By Liu Hongzuo - on 25 Nov 2016, 5:44pm

Pet Widget, a social networking app for pets, launches in Singapore

Pet Widget logo in the app store.

Social networking app Pet Widget announced their launch today. Pet Widget is a social network designed for bringing together pet owners and lovers, integrating both humans and animals in one service-providing platform. You can find it as a free mobile app within the iOS App Store or the Android OS Google Play Store.

The app allows pet owners to create online profiles for each pet of theirs, completed with photos and pertinent details like breed and age. Pet Widget also helps to keep track of upcoming vet visits and medical commitments if you choose to key said details in.

At the heart of the app is a community quite alike to Facebook – pet owners can send friend requests to each other, and they can populate the social feed with updates of their pets’ shenanigans and whereabouts (since pets can’t create coherent posts by themselves).

Other features of Pet Widget include Pet Talk, an in-app forum with themed discussion boards for pet owners to connect, share, and discuss. If location tracking is enabled, the People Nearby feature allows human users to search for pet owners in the vicinity, bringing the pet engagement offline. Users can opt to show or hide their locations. There’s also a Listings section for finding pet-related services and businesses – currently, it records over 450 listings in Singapore, ranging from vets to pet-friendly cafes, to swimming pools for canines.

Perhaps the most useful Pet Widget feature is the optional Badge gadget. This intelligent ID tag uses NFC and QR technology to help owners locate their lost pets. According to Pet Widget, using Badge to locate lost pets can be faster than the existing microchip system placed in Singapore – the microchip system requires specific equipment to read, while Badge works with conventional smartphones. In a nutshell, once someone scans a Badge, that person will receive key information that can help contact the owner immediately. Badge also alerts owners with lost pet via Pet Widget, displaying its last known location (where the Badge was scanned at). The finder of said lost pet will receive helpful information about the lost pet if the Pet Widget owner created a pet profile.

Badge retails at S$29, and it is sold at Naiise, Wellfond Pets Thomson, The Barkery Singapore, Excluniqueeee, Howlistic Life, SPCA Singapore, Sun Petgamart, The Animal Ark Veterinary Group, Kohe Pets and Pets Philosophy.

Pet Widget was founded locally by Ivan Loh, who combined his passion for his pet dogs with his experience in running a business. Ivan used to work with governments in Africa through Singapore Cooperation Enterprise, before he was CEO of Terravox Co. Ltd (a Singtel partner based in Mongolia). He was also Executive Director with Bugis Street Development Pte. Ltd., and is currently the CEO of Bugis Street Online Pte Ltd, while he runs this pet project.

“I’ve been through the process of searching for my dogs whenb they went missing and it was extremely trying. Locating owners through the existing microchip system is long, tedious and often unsuccessful as microchips only carry a serial number that requires specific equipment to read. However, almost everyone in Singapore has a smartphone. It’s never been easier to build meaningful connections and we’re really excited to see how Pet Widget and Badge will help to promote responsible pet ownership and make Singapore a more pet-friendly city,” said Ivan.

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