One of India's more tech-savvy political parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party, is going all out too woo the citizens of the digital world. In an attempt to make their presence felt across the digital realm, the party has launched a slew of websites including those for prominent party leaders. The BJP is also active on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. And there is also a 'BJP for India' Apple iPhone app.
BJP's digital blitzkrieg didn't manage to work any wonders for the party in the last general elections, but the party isn't giving up in its online reach out efforts. Which, given the fact that India has the third largest Internet user base in the world, is a good thing to do. It gives them an edge over the other parties, that have been slower in harnessing the advantages of new-age technologies.
But the problem with most of BJP's digital endeavours is also present in its iPhone app. It is just not good enough.
The BJP for India iPhone app provides updates and information about the party, lets users give feedback and also join the party online. Noida-based Unikove, the company that developed the app for the BJP opted for the easy way out. Much of the app is actually the official BJP website displayed inside the app. It means that the viewing experience is not optimised for viewing on iPhone screen and also defeats the purpose of having an app.
Also the photos and videos on the app are dated. The last video is that of Nitin Gadkari taking over as the BJP president (that happened a year ago!). Moreover, none of the videos would even play. The photos do not have any captions to provide the user a context.
If we are to go by the BJP for India iPhone app, there are only three leaders in the BJP: LK Advani, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Nitin Gadkari. Wonder why the likes of Sushma Swaraj, Narendra Modi and Murli Manohar Joshi do not even find a mention in the list of leaders? The content in the app is also full of typos and they have even managed to misspell BJP icon Atal Bihari Vajpayee's name.
Even if someone installs the app, I wonder if someone will have the urge to fire it up again. The look and feel also lacks the finesse that we associate with many other iPhone apps. Not much thought seems to have gone into its making.
Just because having an iPhone app is the 'in thing', it doesn't mean that a shoddy job should suffice. If BJP really wants to target the mobile-app-friendly voters, the iPhone is a very small slice of the pie. They should get someone to build them a Java app, that's where all the action is happening, beyond the flashy world of the iPhones, BlackBerrys and the Androids.
On second thoughts, going by the BJP's iPhone app experience (even the portfolio on Unikove's website doesn't feature the BJP app), I think they'll be better off with a WAP version of their website. It's simpler to build and there are more chances of it being updated regularly.
Rating: 1.5/5
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