Ledula Services has launched their iPhone and iPad mobile application. This enables Ledula members to access and store contacts on their phones and tablets, where they previously had to visit the Web site to find trusted home service providers.
Says Ledula founder, Atholl Tomlinson, “It’s easy to get a list of service providers today, but you never know if the plumbers, painters and pool-pump repairmen you find on Google and other listing sites will be trustworthy or competent.
“Asking your friends for the people they have used before is the obvious solution, because you know you can trust the people they trust. Ledula takes the concept of asking your friends for recommendations and makes it mobile.”
The company, operational since May 2011, represents a world first in home service provider directories and includes South African listings such as electricians, builders and landscapers in over 80 different categories.
The free service integrates members’ database of Facebook friends with Ledula’s provider database and shows users which home service providers specific friends have added, used and rated. All members have access to the entire database and members who do not yet have friends registered on Ledula, are able to choose trustworthy providers from the list of providers suggested to them by Ledula.
Simon Barber, CTO of ThoughtFaqtory, the mobile application developers behind the app, believes that the addition of a mobile app to the service platform will add convenience to an already valuable service.
“The app feature we are most excited about is the ability to store a complete set of service providers in your My Providers personal Ledula phonebook. Even when you’re offline, you can use the app to contact the right provider,” says Barber.
As users are normally already logged into Facebook on their phones via the Facebook app, the Ledula app brings all the website functionality to the phone without the added step of logging in. In addition, the intuitive interface allows users to contact service providers directly from the app, as well as share these contacts with friends using e-mail or SMS.
Adds Tomlinson, “Two minutes after installing the app you will have a complete set of home service providers in 80 categories for your area downloaded to your phone. If you have no friends using Ledula we load our recommended providers but your list gets more and more customised as you, your friends and their friends rate their favourite providers on Ledula.”
Users can download the Ledula app for iPhone and iPad from the Apple App Store. The Android app will also be available from Google Play in the next few weeks and will be announced on social media.