The iPhone and iPad app from the Democratic Party is out and here is the premised review.
A few days ago, I reported about the new iPhone app, released by the Democratic national Committee. I’m going to show you, what you can and cannot do with this app.

The there are seven basic options, like Donate, which directs you to the DNC’s homepage where you can make a donation.
In order to use the features Call Congress and Find Events, you have to provide your zip code or have your device set the location for you. Afterwards the application displays your Representative and your two Senators and their phone numbers. The latter option, not only shows upcoming events in your area, but also gives you the opportunity to display the location on a map and sign up for the event.

Photos are rather disappointing, because you only get to see 22 pictures. Even worse, you won’t be able to see them fullscreen or send them to friends.
Videos on the other hand can be shared with friends on Facebook or via mail, but they are all from the DNC’s own Youtube channel and therefore nothing special.
There have not been any Alerts yet, so I have no idea if it works.

The News feature is just a copy of the DNC’s blog and does not produce any further information, but you can still share the posts.
The most disappointing part of this app is the Discussion Points section. I expected some kind of platform for supporters to interact, but instead this is just an outline of the general policies of the Democratic Party, which you can’t even share.
This is also the biggest downside of the application. You get a bunch of information about the party itself, yet a supporter won’t be able to make good use of this.
The Democrats had the chance to create an application, which would help supporters on their quest to gather votes, but what they released does not use the possibilities, the iPhone provides, in any way.

This app could have connected supporters by using a service similar to Google Latitude, or they could have cooperated with Foursquare for attending events; the possibilities are endless. Those features draw attention and users to the Democratic Party and their events.
This is what new media looks like, but what they released is merely old media in a new outfit.