White House relaunches mobile apps with new design, search, high-res photos, live alerts

In response to growing mobile traffic, the White House today announced new and improved versions of its iOS and Android applications. Arriving just as the Democratic National Convention gets underway in North Carolina, version 2.0 now features the same left column navigation scheme that’s seen adoption across countless other apps of late — though it does result in a better navigation experience compared to previous iterations.

A search bar has been added above the app’s various sections, letting users search through WhiteHouse.gov’s archives. And thanks to a new “save to favorites” option, you can keep track of the best content you come across, be it articles on net neutrality or a recent clip revealing the White House’s custom beer recipe. Other additions include bug fixes, live alerts, and high-resolution photos tailored for the Retina display on Apple’s latest iPad.

Further, the White House is continuing its open source push; source code for both apps has been contributed to GitHub, where developers can download and alter the data for their own projects. Finally, for those that prefer to avoid a full-fledged app, the White House’s mobile site has also been refreshed — over 99 precent of content is now available to those visiting from a smartphone or tablet, according to a White House blog post. The new apps are available from the iTunes App Store and Google Play now.