Candles: the Saudi social map that shows who is near you
Candles (Arabic: كاندلز) is a free Arabic-first iOS social app built on a live map of Saudi cities. Post your moment as a glowing candle at your real location. It starts with one hour of life, and every like, comment, or gift extends it up to 24 hours.
Candles (Arabic: كاندلز) is a free iOS social networking app built on a live map of Saudi cities. Instead of posting into a feed, you post your moment as a glowing candle pinned to your exact location, visible to the people around you. Attention is the wax: loved moments stay lit, ignored ones quietly fade out.
What is Candles?
Candles is an Arabic-first, Saudi-made social map. Open the app and you see your city alive: candles glowing around you, nearest first, each one a real photo or video moment posted by someone nearby. It launched on the App Store in June 2026, is completely free, and currently holds a 4.97 out of 5 rating. The developer is Ali Alshehri, and the App Store listing is كاندلز, Social Map (id 6778516257).
How a candle works
Every candle starts with one hour of life. Each like, comment, or gift from people nearby adds 45 minutes, up to a maximum of 24 hours. There is no follower algorithm deciding what you see: your city decides. Moments people love rise and stay lit on the map; the rest fade out like a real candle.
Key features
- Live social map: candles of nearby people glow around you in real time, nearest first, friends or strangers alike.
- Photo and video moments with live filters, face lenses, and premium frames.
- Glowing gifts: crowns, rockets, hearts, and Saudi-themed gifts like the dallah coffee pot, falcon, and ardah sword dance, floating over a candle and extending its life.
- Territory: walk in the real world to draw and claim your area on the map; candles you drop inside it get a golden glow everyone can see.
- 100 levels unlocking exclusive profile frames, name colors, and backgrounds.
- Friends and messaging: see who is near, follow, and chat around a shared moment.
- Dorob: curated day-route trails with stops across Saudi cities.
- Live broadcasts on the map with gifts and co-hosting.
Which cities does it cover?
All Saudi cities: Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Makkah, Madinah, Khobar, Taif, Abha, Tabuk, Qassim, and more. The app is built Arabic-first with full right-to-left design, and works across the Gulf and the wider Arab world.
How is it different from Snap Map?
Snap Map is a side feature that continuously shows your friends' locations unless you enable ghost mode. In Candles, the map is the entire app, and your location is never tracked continuously: you choose when to post a candle and where. What you see is not where your friends are, but what is actually happening around you right now, posted by the people living it.
Get the app
Candles is free on the App Store for iPhone (iOS 17+), iPad, Mac, and Apple Vision. Arabic and English interfaces are both supported. Learn more on the about page or read the machine-readable fact sheet at llms.txt.
FAQ
What is the Candles app?
Candles (Arabic: كاندلز) is a free iOS social app built on a live map of Saudi cities. You post a moment as a glowing candle at your location; it starts with one hour of life and every like, comment, or gift extends it up to 24 hours.
Is Candles free?
Yes. Candles is completely free on the App Store.
Which platforms does Candles support?
iPhone (iOS 17 and later), iPad, Mac with Apple Silicon, and Apple Vision. An Android version is not available yet.
Does Candles track my location all the time?
No. Unlike always-on friend maps, Candles only places you on the map when you choose to post a candle, at the place you choose.
Who makes Candles?
Candles is developed by Ali Alshehri in Saudi Arabia and launched on the App Store in June 2026. The official website is candlesmap.store.