Royal Wedding: The best, worst and indifferent Apple iOS apps

There's nothing like celebrity frenzy, especially a long-in-the-planning one like the Royal Wedding, to bring out the best and worst of mobile application development.

Here's a sampling of the best, worst and in-between mobile apps for Apple iPhones, iPads and other iOS devices being touted as indispensable for keeping track of and connected with The Wedding -- the royal nuptials for Prince William and Catherine Middleton on Friday, April 29, at Westminster Abbey in London.

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WeeMee Royal Wedding Countdown, by WeeWorld.com, a "social engagement" network for teens and women; free, for iPhone. The emphasis here is on "countdown" -- the app apparently does nothing more than that. In fact, it's so simple that it has generated enough confusion and antipathy among downloaders that someone, apparently from WeeWorld, had to post on iTunes the following explanation: "Many people are confused at what this app does! It's simple! There's a royal wedding in a couple months! This is just the countdown till that day! Well [sic] glad to help!"

Royal Wedding Countdown Timer, from Fruity Digital. Yes, another one. With one difference: "Celebrate each day of the countdown with a new royal family quote!" With a straight face, the app page includes this warning: "Infrequent/Mild Profanity or Crude Humor." Those naughty royals.

The Royal Wedding Tea Towel App, from MD Media, a UK-based "new media consultancy"; $0.99, for iPhone and iPad. Though billed as an app to "entertain and inform," its main mission seems to be sell "official and unofficial merchandise." An MD Media tweet about two weeks ago trumpeted that "Kate and Wills Wedding Cake Toppers are the most sold items in our Royal Wedding Tea Towel iPhone App." You know: those ... things you stick on top of cakes. It offers Royal wedding music, modern and traditional wallpapers, and promises live coverage of The Wedding, if you're in the U.K.

Royal Wedding Pairs, from Press Association, the "UK's leading multimedia news agency and information provider"; free, for iPhone and iPad. The Association's website assures us that it delivers "unrivalled content and digital media services." Nothing like that makes it into this game, which gives you a deadline to flip pairs of cards and match two of the same type before time runs out. You can hit the "hint buttons" to, basically, cheat. It gives you something to do between checking your Wedding Countdown apps.


William and Kate's Royal Wedding, from Lexington Creative, an iOS app designer; $0.99, for iPhone and iPad. It promises to be the "complete app" for The Wedding. But its "information" about the couple is stuff like "December 2006: Will graduates from Sandhurst," the Royal Military Academy for training army officers (you won't find that fact in the app, by the way); and a raft of other stuff that reads like it was cribbed from Wikipedia or an official website.

Royal Wedding Essential Guide, from BlueYellow Media, Ltd.; $0.99 (half the regular price, for a limited time), for iPhone and iPad. Listed by The Telegraph as one of the 10 best Royal Wedding apps. One of the few that seems to have been designed from the ground up as a mobile app actually useful on the day of the event. An interactive, searchable GPS map lists hundreds of Wedding-related locations: Tap on a map marker to get detailed information, including a Wikipedia link. Bookmark your favorite locations and share them with friends. One section lists "Best Viewing Areas." There's a 3D tour of the Wedding Procession through London streets, a Wedding Twitter feed, and a "Royal Personality Test" (also available as a separate free app). The blend of data, mapping, GPS location, and Web links can double as a guide to Royal London.