The Republican Party has launched a new app that promises to provide live-streaming video and “unprecedented access” of the 2016 convention from start to finish.
The app will allow users to view 360-degree cameras that will be used for the first time at a GOP convention in Cleveland this summer.
“The 2016 RNC: Official App, will provide unprecedented access to the proceedings from the palm of your hand,” said Samantha Osborne, the GOP convention digital director, in a statement. “For our delegates and other attendees we have an easy to see bus schedule and turn-by-turn mapping inside Quicken Loans Arena. For those at home, they can tune in with our standard or 360 live streams and follow who is speaking and when.”
Before Donald Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee, multiple contenders were developing apps and other technology they hoped would allow their campaign to effectively navigate a contested convention en route to the nomination. Ted Cruz’s team told Yahoo it would build an iPhone app that would work offline and contain info on each delegate and whether they could be flipped to supporting the Texas senator’s bid. Trump’s crew, meanwhile, was working on developing custom “hardware” that would allow campaign staff to avoid unreliable Internet access in the convention hall.
The technology on display at this year’s convention may not have a determinative effect on the outcome of the convention as it once appeared, but the GOP claims it is the most technologically advanced app ever used at a major party’s political convention. It is available for download for Apple devices here and from the Google Play Store here.
