New e-hailing app and deals to check out
Tech Things #28
When I shared my frustrations about Uber a while back on Instagram, I received a lot of interest on what alternatives there were. The safety aspect is a concern, plus I’ve had a few incidents that were not great - dodgy routes at night (why would a driver avoid a highway when there is no traffic?) and not ending the trip, amongst others. I finally tried Secure Express, but before that, also ChaufHER, however I didn’t have a good experience with that and can’t recommend it.
If you want a service where safety is the main feature, I recommend Secure Express. They operate in Joburg and Cape Town only, but best to check if your area is covered by downloading the app. It works by location only, i.e. you cannot check for a quote in advance if you are not at your pickup spot, unfortunately. You can read about my experience to see if it’s worth your while:
Good news if you’re a Samsung Galaxy A Series user, the Circle to Search feature is coming to your handset, if you haven’t already received it. Once you enable the feature, you long press the home button, circle what’s on your screen, and search. It’s a nifty way to find something you’ve seen on a TikTok or Reel, or if you don’t want to DM a person to ask what item of clothing or shoes they are wearing.
Still on the subject of phones, did you see Melon Mobile is offering potential customers a chance to test drive their network with zero obligation to stay on? The deal includes 5GB of data, unlimited calls and texts, to try over a two week period. If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I switched my business line to a Melon Mobile eSIM last year, and haven’t looked back. Here’s your chance to check it out:
If you’re a Capitec customer, good news. You can now sign up to or access Showmax with preferential rates directly from the banking app. This new partnership lets banking customers pay as little as R22 month for Showmax Mobile, or R34 a month for the Premier League subscription, what a crazy rate! Details on Recharged.co.za.
I know I have been teasing a giveaway for a while now, but keep an eye out for a smartphone giveaway coming next month! Feel free to share Tech Things with your nearest and dearest if you want them to also stand in line to win.
Speaking about giveaways, there’s still another big one coming to the Recharged in 30 podcast. Our sponsor, the Naked Insurance app, will be providing us with a robot vacuum to giveaway to one lucky listener. Have you subscribed and started listening the episodes so far? We’ve just published a new long-awaited conversation on electric vehicles. Hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed recording it!
Reads you may want to catch up on:
Smart home apps may be sharing your data:
https://www.recharged.co.za/smart-home-apps-share-your-data/Asus ROG Ally available in SA:
https://www.recharged.co.za/asus-rog-ally-x-in-sa/BMW is rolling out Uno to half a million cars:
https://www.recharged.co.za/bmw-uno-half-a-million-cars/
Till next time,
Nafisa