Not sure if you’ve heard, but two pretty popular people are getting married this Friday in England. Prince William and Kate Middleton are tying the knot, and millions will be watching. With many media outlets covering every aspect of the ceremony, it is only right for the mobile world to get in on some of the action. From NBC News comes ‘The Royal Wedding,’ an application that has all the information needed to follow the big day.

The app’s main screen contains a series of pages with information on the big day, covering the latest news on the ceremony, biographies on both William and Middleton, and the etiquette and tradition for a royal wedding. Visually, the main screen is attractive: clear, easy to navigate and on a constant scroll. The screen is designed to make the options look like paintings going across the screen. However, there is no way to stop the ‘paintings’ from passing by. There is no settings menu to shut that option off. Content-wise, this feature doesn’t matter, but it makes navigating the app annoying.

An excellent feature of the app is the number of videos available. Given it’s from NBC News, the app displays interviews and content from the network’s shows, including the ‘Today’ show and ‘Dateline.’ The app is jam-packed with videos. Under the page about William and his life, you can view segments from ‘Today’ about William and what he has been doing in preparation for the wedding. There are also exclusive interviews with William and his brother Harry.

Royal wedding fans can also interact with friends via social media websites Facebook and Twitter to share their thoughts on the wedding. This is especially useful when browsing some of the fashions of the big day. Numerous pages display the possible dresses and jewelry Middleton can wear for her wedding. All those options will generate just as many opinions about what she should or should not wear. You can post or tweet about your favorite styles straight from the app.

The fun you can have with the app does not end the day of the wedding at Westminster Abbey. The app features suggestions on how you can host a tea party with your own guests to celebrate the occasion. It suggests must-have items, such as an assortment of tea and pastries. It has recipes for easy foods you can make quickly and even has an option where you can share your recipes with others within the app. Some of the advice is great to celebrate the occasion, such as keeping a bottle of champagne close to toast the couple after the nuptials. But for us in the United States, a glass of orange juice and some toast will be more appropriate as coverage of the wedding will begin at about 4 a.m. Eastern time. The app also has a live map detailing the royal wedding route from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey. NBC News will have live tweets you can read during the entire ceremony.

All the media coverage of the wedding shows the widespread excitement for the big day. Now you can follow along using ‘The Royal Wedding’ app, a free and fun way to keep the excitement going throughout the ceremony.

nerivera@syr.edu

Published on April 26, 2011 at 12:00 pm