Less than a week away from the 2013 Academy Awards and ABC Digital has given film freaks, celebrity hangers-on, and even red carpet mavens an impressive mobile app that delivers an award-worthy experience. Here’s ABC’s video introduction to the app:
I’ve been using the Android version of ABC’s Oscars app for several days now, and I’m as impressed with it as I was disappointed with NBC’s Olympics apps last summer. While we’ll have to wait until Sunday to see if ABC Digital can deliver on the app’s Backstage Pass promises, the pre-awards features are polished and surprisingly expansive. The video section is full of clips from past broadcasts, the photo gallery boasts hundreds of red carpet pictures from previous years, and ABC includes a sharable Oscar ballot for users to fill out in a smooth, interactive interface.
The app isn’t without its problems, of course. In a bush-league mistake, ABC Digital forgot to hit the switch to keep the display awake during videos, so you have to keep tapping the screen every 30 seconds or so. Also, I was surprised the video section was left unfilterable and unsearchable. And in a glaring error, the Facebook connection to the Oscar ballot shuts off when the app is turned off, rendering useless the promising feature of seeing your friends’ Oscar picks within the app.
The biggest non-technical mistake with the app is the choice of video clips ABC Digital uses for nominees on the Oscar Ballot. I was taken aback that the app didn’t offer clips of each actor’s performance in the Actor and Actress section. For example, in Anne Hathaway’s Supporting Actress entry, they just stuck in the Les Miserables trailer instead of using the clip of her performance that ABC will show on Sunday night. I’m sure there’s a broadcast rights issue behind this, but surely the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences could throw a little weight around and get short-term rights for 45-second clips. If anyone has pull in Hollywood, it’s the Academy.
Even considering these issues, the Oscars app does a marvelous job of preparing users for the big event on February 24. Because the app will be useless in short order, ABC and the Academy could have put out a perfunctory piece of unusable junk like NBC did in 2012. Instead, the app gives a stunning performance that excites me about this year’s Oscars and leaves me hopeful for future event-centered mobile apps.
You can follow these links to download the official Oscars app for Android, iOS, and Kindle.
Great news, no doubt, for all movie buffs. Now people can get the latest news and updates on Oscars. However, why did the Windows mobile users get left out? However, for all users this app can help to keep them updated about various Oscars related news while on the go. – John ( http://mobilesitescms.tumblr.com/ )