Frequently asked questions

Enter your phone number. We send a four-digit code to that number on WhatsApp, and entering it both creates your account and signs you in. The code is valid for five minutes.

We also ask for your date of birth. You need to be at least 13 to have an account, and if you are under 18 you need a parent or guardian's permission to use Hawalina. Everything else — display name, photo, bio — is optional and can be added whenever you like.

The code goes to the WhatsApp account on the number you typed, so first check that the number is right and carries its country code — +968 for Oman.

• We send at most one code per number per minute, so wait a moment before asking for another.
• Each code lasts five minutes. Requesting a new one cancels the previous code.
• After five wrong entries the number is locked for 15 minutes.

If nothing arrives after that, write to support@hawalina.app and include the number you are trying to use.

No — signing in with a WhatsApp code works on its own. If you would rather not wait for a code each time, set a password in Profile → Settings; you can then sign in with your phone number and password instead.

If you forget it, choose Forgot password. We send a reset code to the number on the account, and the new password needs to be at least 8 characters.

Not from inside the app. Your phone number is what identifies your account and what you sign in with, so it is deliberately not editable alongside the rest of your profile. If you need it changed, write to support@hawalina.app from the account.

The optional email address and the second contact number are yours to edit at any time, in Profile → Edit profile.

Your display name, profile photo, bio, gender, preferred language, email address and second contact number — all from Profile → Edit profile, all optional.

A profile photo needs to be a WebP, JPEG or PNG image of up to 1 MB. Your phone number and date of birth stay fixed: the first identifies the account, the second decides which age protections apply to it.

No. Location access is what lets us show the branches nearest to you and sort results by distance, and it is also the quickest way to check in at a restaurant you are visiting.

You can refuse it, or withdraw it later in your device settings, and the app keeps working — results simply will not be ordered by distance, and you will need to scan a branch's QR code to check in.

Yes, and without asking us for it: Profile → Settings → Download my data returns every personal record tied to your account — your profile, reviews, check-ins, reels, follows, favourites, notifications and registered devices, plus your business records if you own a restaurant.

This is the right of access under Oman's Personal Data Protection Law. If you would rather we sent it, email privacy@hawalina.app.

From Profile → Settings → Delete account. No email and no phone call needed.

• The account closes immediately and you are signed out on every device.
• Your phone number, sign-in identity and display name are erased or replaced with an irreversible placeholder straight away, and your notification tokens are deleted.
• Whatever personal data remains is erased or irreversibly anonymised within 30 days.

Two things outlive the account, and only for as long as we must keep them: payment and tax records, for the ten years Omani law requires, and moderation records where they are needed to prevent repeat abuse. Export your data first if you want a copy — deletion cannot be undone.

If you own a restaurant listing, contact us before you delete: closing a personal account does not by itself remove a business listing.

Yes. Profile → Settings → Notifications has a separate switch for each category — offers and marketing, social activity such as follows and comments, and notifications about your own orders and activity — so you can keep the ones you want and drop the rest.

Turning notifications off for Hawalina in your device settings stops all of them at once.

The sponsored placements you see are sold and served by us, from our own systems: the app carries no third-party advertising network and no advertising SDK, and we do not collect or transmit your device's advertising ID. Every ad is reviewed and approved by our team before it can appear.

For anyone we know to be under 18, ads are never chosen from a taste profile, viewing history or precise location — only from where they sit in the app and the city being browsed.

So that every rating on Hawalina comes from someone who was actually at the restaurant. Checking in works two ways:

• By location — your device is within 200 m of the branch.
• By QR code — scan the branch's code. This is the way in when location is switched off, or when the reading puts you just outside the radius.

A check-in stays valid for 24 hours, so you can take your time and write the review after you leave.

Once per branch per month. Branches count separately, so two branches of the same restaurant can each have a review from you in the same month, and next month you can review a branch you have already rated.

A review cannot be edited once it is posted. If you need one taken down, write to support@hawalina.app.

The restaurant's owner can post one reply, which appears under your review in the restaurant's name. No one else can reply, and an owner can neither edit nor delete what you wrote.

Yes, and a dish rating does not need a check-in. Give any dish on the menu 1 to 5 stars, with or without a comment; rating it again replaces your earlier rating, so you can change your mind.

You can also just like a dish without rating it. Everything you like is collected in your profile, which is also what the app draws on to suggest dishes you might enjoy elsewhere.

Approved creators and restaurant owners. Everyone else can watch, like, save, comment and follow the accounts and restaurants they enjoy.

Creator and sponsored content is approved by our team before it goes live, and every reel on the platform is subject to our content rules.

Apply for a creator permit from the app: choose a public handle, add a short bio and your social links, a contact number for your creator page, and your official creator permit or licence number if you hold one.

Applications start in review and the same screen shows the status. If yours is turned down you will see why, and you can amend the application and send it again. Creator accounts are for adults — you need to be at least 18.

Use the report action on the reel, review or comment itself. Reports go into a moderation queue that our team works through, and we act on them promptly.

To stop seeing an account altogether, block it from its profile. Blocked accounts are listed in Profile → Settings → Blocked accounts, and you can unblock any of them at any time.

Open the offer in the app and show it at the branch before you order. Offers are honoured by the restaurant itself — nothing is paid through Hawalina, and there is no voucher to buy.

Each offer shows the dates it runs between and drops off the list as soon as it expires, so what you see in the app is what is still valid.

Create the listing yourself from the owner area — name, branches, menu and photos — then upload your commercial registration and the other verification documents we ask for.

The listing goes to our review team as soon as the first document arrives. Until it is approved it is visible only to you; once approved it appears in search, discovery and the map like any other restaurant. If we turn it down, the reason is shown on the listing so you can fix it and resubmit.

A listing is public only once it has been approved. The owner dashboard shows which of these applies to yours:

• Verification documents have not been uploaded yet.
• The review is still in progress.
• The application was turned down — the reason is on the listing.
• You paused the listing yourself.
• We suspended it. In that case you will have heard from us, and only our team can lift it.

If none of those fits, write to support@hawalina.app.

Yes — pause it from the owner dashboard when you close for renovation, a seasonal break or any other reason. A paused listing disappears from search and discovery while keeping its branches, menu, photos and reviews exactly as they are.

You can bring it back yourself whenever you like, with no new review needed. Deleting a listing is the other thing entirely: it takes the restaurant, its branches, menu, reviews and reels out of the app together, and you cannot undo it yourself. Pause it if there is any chance you will reopen.

The available plans, their prices in Omani rial and what each one includes are listed in the owner area, and a subscription is tied to one restaurant. You will see the current plan and its expiry date there too.

Payment is handled by Thawani, our payment provider: we never receive or store your card number. We do record the amount, the VAT and the provider's reference for every payment, so you have them for your own accounts.