Apple celebrates apps created by Vietnamese women

On Monday iPhone users in Vietnam began seeing a section on the Apple web site titled “Made By Vietnamese Women.” The section featured 18 apps, including the popular English pronunciation app Elsa Speak, dating and social networking app Fika, fashion trade platform Piktina and voucher manager app TAPTAP.

Elsa Speak was created in 2014 by trilingual Van Dinh Hong Vu, who in 2021 was included in the list of 20 Inspiring Vietnamese Women.

Piktina was launched in June 2022 by a group led by Trinh Thanh Huyen and Nguyen Hoang Phuong, who wanted to encourage people to sell their unused fashion items, instead of throwing them away, to reduce clothing waste.

Lan Doan, CEO of TAPTAP and a mother of two, graduated from Harvard University and previously worked for Boston Consulting Group as a project leader.

Other apps that Apple included in the list were in the categories of music, study, games, healthcare, pets and beauty.

Sources familiar with the news said that this could be a move by Apple to increase localized content towards Vietnamese users as many of them celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8.

Apple has also recently been celebrating and promoting the participation of women in the tech industry. In September last year CEO Tim Cook said that the industry “will not achieve nearly what it could achieve” until it diversifies. He made the statement upon the launch of a new app store foundations program supporting female developers.