There’s nothing like celebrity frenzy, especially a long-in-the-planning one like the Royal Wedding, to bring out the best and worst of mobile application development.
Here’s a sampling of the best, worst and in-between mobile apps for Apple iPhones, iPads and other iOS devices being touted as indispensable for keeping track of and connected with The Wedding — the royal nuptials for Prince William and Catherine Middleton on Friday, April 29, at Westminster Abbey in London.
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THE BIG DAY: Will & Kate & YouTube
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Royal Wedding 2011 by 2 for Couples, from 2 for Life, a “gender-neutral” but not age-neutral “lifestyle” website that specializes in 25- to 39-year-old young urban couples. You know, like William and Kate! Free, for iPhone and iPad. The site has a section devoted to The Wedding. Much of the app is routine: Another countdown, photos, one-click “signing” of Will and Kate’s guestbook, and daily news updates from the palace. Its main focus seems to be connecting you to the 2 for Life site, and merchandising: One section has souvenirs with recommendations for the best “bling” and “kitschy” picks, and “25 Days of Royal Giveaways! Check back for the chance to win a daily prize fit for a king or queen!”
The Royal Wedding, by Andrew Weekes, who when he’s not busy being the “great great grandson of Queen Victoria’s official photographer” runs an iOS and MacOS development shop called iCandiApps; $0.99, for iPhone and iPad. This app promises to be the “ultimate portable momentum [presumably “memento”]” of The Wedding. But like many other similar apps, that means access to the official websites, Clarence House Twitter feeds, and official and media photos. And oh yes: a countdown timer.
Royal Wedding — The Wills & Kate Story, from Trinity Mirror Digital Media, parent company for the British tabloid The Daily Mirror and its online edition, mirror.co.uk, which of course is going bonkers over Wills and Kate; $1.99, for iPhone and iPad. A surprisingly sophisticated and even genteel app given Mirror’s storied tabloid past: a storybook format of 10 chapters of extensive photo galleries, with video and audio narration by James Whitaker, a British journo who’s made a career of covering the royal family. Each chapter has an intro video and a picture gallery with one-touch access to background details about the picture or subject. Share it all via a Facebook connection.
iDo: Follow London’s Royal Wedding, from The Appstillery Ltd.; $0.99, for iPhone and iPad. Classified as a navigation app, iDo uses highly detailed, unique hand-drawn or diagrammatic maps (such as the London subway system), where your current location is automatically plotted. It includes maps created for The Wedding route, and of London; Twitter feeds; a timetable of The Day’s events.
