iGPII World Youth Day App Contains a Wealth of Resources

iPhone/iPad App a great companion for pilgrims

News, schedules, event information, photos, videos and a GPS map are only a small part of the offerings in iGPII, an app for iPhone and iPad. You will also be able to "Find a Friend" in the huge crowds that are expected for World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid, Spain.

WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - World Youth Day 2011 (WYD) officially begins on Wednesday, August 16 in Madrid, Spain. As thousands of young pilgrims descend on this historic city, many will have a new resource that will be invaluable not only for getting to know the WYD schedule but getting around the city - an app for their iPhone or iPad.

On July30th, Catholic Online announced this new application, iGPII, which was unveiled at a press conference at the Vatican. Developed by the Italian software company, Futurtech (http://www.futurapp.it/), the Italian version was made available in the iPhone app store just after the announcement and I eagerly awaited arrival of the English version.

In communicating with the staff at Futurtech, they were not exactly sure when the other versions would be made available, so I checked several times each day. On Wednesday of last week my persistence was rewarded with the new app in English, still in plenty of time for the event. While the official announcement indicated that the app would also be available in French, Spanish and Portuguese, these other language versions have not yet appeared.

When you open the app, you are greeted with a portrait of our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, which dissolves to a home screen with several sections. Quickly you realize that this is not just an app for WYD 2011 but one that could be used long-term to talk of past and future events as well.

The first tab of home screen takes you to the mission of the "Youth Section" of the Pontifical Council for the Laity as well as the work of the John Paul II Foundation for Youth, who sponsored the new app.

The second tab links to the history of WYD and a brief description of previous events dating back to WYD 1985 which took place in Rome.

World Youth Day 2011 is the third tab on the app and opens up to a comprehensive overview of this year's event as well as resources useful to pilgrims during the week. There you will find a wealth of material:
-    Up-to-date news
-    The daily agenda
-    A special events listing
-    Preparatory Catechesis for the consecration of Youth during WYD 2011
-    Messages from the Pope
-    Prayers for WYD
-    Words to the WYD Hymn
-    Information on the Pilgrimage of the Cross and Icon
-    Madrid Hotel Contact information
-    Information about Madrid
-    Emergency and other useful information
And this is just the information portion of the WYD 2011 section!

The bottom navigation icons will also take you to a travel guide to many of the religious and historic sites in Madrid, a GPS-linked map, a photo/video gallery as well as a WYD store that is yet to be launched.

A spokesperson for Futurtech, Daniela Marconcini, told me that an update of the app has already been submitted to Apple that will include "Find a Friend" capability. "This will enable users to create a list of friends and locate them in real time wherever they are at the event," Marconcini noted.

In evaluating the scope and complexity of the task, Futurtech has certainly delivered a quality product for World Youth Day and one that can become a mainstay for future events annually.

The only area I would like to see enhanced is the text presentation. There is no spacing between paragraphs, which makes reading on a small screen much harder. I would also like to see the capability of changing font sizes included.

Pilgrims now have just about everything they need in the palm of their hands to successfully navigate the event and the streets of the city.

The cost for iGPII is quite a bit higher than the average app at $4.99 U.S. These funds will go toward the John Paul II Foundation for Youth and will also help bring youth from disadvantaged countries to the next WYD.

If you are an attendee at WYD 2011, don't leave home without it. It is well worth the cost!

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Randy Sly is the Associate Editor of Catholic Online and the CEO/Associate Publisher for the Northern Virginia Local Edition of Catholic Online (http://virginia.catholic.org). He is a former Archbishop of the Charismatic Episcopal Church who laid aside that ministry to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church.

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