Safaricom’s Home Fibre app is still in beta. The telco, through its social media channels, is still encouraging people to download the app that is yet to see an official announcement.
We figured that Safaricom created the tool to primarily serve Home Fibre users, although some of us wanted its offerings integrated in mySafaricom app (that is one less app in your phone). However, Home Fibre is primarily available in select parts of Nairobi and Central Kenya, hence, it will not make sense to clutter the carrier’s main utility app with services that are used by a small number of its customers.
That aside, an update that went live a few hours ago appears to have crippled the app. The FTTH utility tool is not responding to requests. You cannot even sign in if you try to reinstall it.
Nonetheless, the following features will now be available when a fix is deployed:
- Session management: this will keep track of a user’s activity across sessions of interaction with their devices.
- Payments feature for Jubilee Home Insurance: A month ago, Safaricom started offering Home Insurance package in partnership with Jubilee Insurance, which is targeting the over 213,000 customers Safaricom Fiber has currently. Customers will now be able to pay for the service from the Home app.
- Miscellaneous bug fixes: The irony here is that the fixes did the exact opposite of their mandate.
We hope Safaricom will continue to supplement the app with key features as it evolves from beta. We are also waiting for a response regarding widespread issues facing Home users about the degradation of their packages. Social media responses have failed to offer a concrete reason for these sudden changes in the product that have left many people unhappy. It has taken them a few days to relegate the product’s credibility with some unpopular developments (that are yet to be communicated), which makes it hard for us to recommend to potential customers.
