Polls reform pressure group Bersih has adopted Malaysiakini 's new mobile app 'Prime' as its official mobile application platform.

Malaysiakini and Bersih will thus together be providing news, updates and notifications direct to mobile phone users via the app.

Prime is a platform for user-customised mobile push notifications developed by Kini Labs, a new start-up in which Malaysiakini is the main shareholder.

Malaysiakini chief executive officer Premesh Chandran said the idea came about after Malaysiakini 's attempts at broadcasting news via popular mobile messaging applications such as WhatsApp.

"We found that most apps like WhatsApp have built-in limitations, designed mostly to prevent spam and that makes it difficult for organisations like Malaysiakini to broadcast news to a wider audience in a scalable way.

"So we thought to ourselves, why not build our own app?" said Premesh.

The launch of the new mobile app is definitely apt, particularly with the Bersih rally slated for this weekend and with Malaysiakini providing 34 hours of non-stop live updates.

Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah ( photo ) said it is vital that a clear and official communication channel be adopted in view of logistical challenges and the potential for confusion and sabotage during the rally.

"Prime will allow us to communicate instructions and updates directly to Bersih supporters and all rally-goers.

"Supporters need only download Prime and subscribe to the Bersih channel in order to be able to receive instructions, such as when to go where and how to prepare, as well as latest updates and news before, during and after the rally."

Worthwhile trade-off

Prime's co-founder and chief technology officer, Ong Guan Sin said: "We wanted to create an app that would allow users to choose just how often they wanted a notification from a source of their choice through their phones.

"We know that some people like to get news as soon as it's out, while others might prefer just a daily digest or to be beeped only with really breaking news. Prime caters to all and lets users choose."

Prime is designed such that users are able to subscribe to particular streams, similar to how a user would follow a Twitter account. Once they are subscribed, notifications are sent in a style similar to WhatsApp messages at a frequency chosen by the user.

Prime is currently available for Android on Google Play Store and was originally slated to be launched in late September or October, but was brought forward to be released in time for Bersih 4.

"The app isn't 100 percent as polished as we originally intended and we're still working out the kinks. But we believe it is a worthwhile trade-off to be ready in time for what is going to be one of the biggest news events of the year," said Ong.

At launch, there will be three fully functioning streams on Prime, a number which Ong says should grow rapidly in coming weeks. He also explained that a version of Prime for iOS was being worked on for release in the very near future.

Prime can be downloaded here via this link or by searching for 'Prime Kini Labs' on the Google Play Store.