“The KÀ App for Android – a Quick Review”
By: Ricky Russo – Atlanta, Georgia (USA)
On Tuesday, August 17th, a tweet from Cirque du Soleil regarding a new app resource came across my mobile phone that piqued my general interest. Usually I ignore those messages because although Google’s Android is one of the most popular mobile phone platforms world-wide now, Cirque du Soleil and its mobile partners seem to develop only for the iOS platform, the platform for Apple’s iPhone and iPad series of devices. What, we on Android are second-class citizens? Not so! So when this tweet suggested there was indeed a Cirque app now available for the Android platform…
“@Cirque: We’ve got 3 options for KA apps now! iPad (http://t.co/VTM3vUo), Android (http://t.co/VTM3vUo) & iPhone (http://t.co/kH9cY5q)”
As an owner of an HTC EVO, I took quite an interest and downloaded the app.
Here’s what I found:
Hitting the Menu key on your phone brings up four options: SHARE THIS APP, GENERAL SETTINGS, SEARCH and ACCOUNTS.
SHARE THIS APP gives you the option to shave via SMS, Twitter or Facebook. SEARCH brings up a general search bar. ACCOUNTS will allow you to sign-in to either your Facebook or Twitter profiles (no doubt for ease of sharing), and it’s relatively simple to set-up. And GENERAL SETTINGS contains your basic operations, such as turning on/off: push notifications, direct messaging, email updates, and location services.
And if you happen to be on another page, the “Share this App” button becomes HOME.
On the Homescreen you have: CIRQUE NEWS, VIDEOS, PHOTOS, FAN WALL, ABOUT KA, KA CHARACTERS, QR SCANNER, MY PROFILE and CIRQUECLUB on the first home screen, and TOP USERS, FAVORITES and COPYRIGHT on the second home screen as options to choose from.
CIRQUE NEWS – is not what I expected at first blush. I thought perhaps this would be a RSS feed from CirqueClub or some other aggregation with Cirque-based headlines available to read. What it is, however, is a tweetdeck featuring all tweets where Cirque du Soleil (@Cirque) is mentioned, or tweets @Cirque themselves sends out into the twitterverse. Options to select ALL TWEETS, OFFICIAL and MENTIONS exist for further organization. Although just incorporating twitter feeds, this is a nice feature to have if you don’t have a Twitter account.
VIDEOS – at the time of review, the video’s section of the app only has four options to choose from: “Inside KA at G4”, “Make-Up Tutorial”, “Extreme Engineering” and “Trailer”. The “Inside KA at G4” option opens up two videos: “Airbag Training” and “Battle Wall”. “Make-up Tutorial” opens up a native video called “KA: All Made Up”. “Extreme Engineering” opens up a video on the engineering behind KA. And “Trailer” is, of course, the official Cirque du Soleil trailer for the show.
PHOTOS – this section offers a number of photo categories for you to choose from, opening up your selection natively in the app: CHARACTERS, CREATIVE STORYBOARDS, BACKSTAGE, LIVE AT MGM GRAND, and SCENES FROM KA.
FAN WALL – is exactly what it sounds. Similar to the Facebook Wall, where friends and family post comments about their general life, you can do the same about KA right here through the app. There are a few comments out there today and like the old CirqueClub forum, open to any topic. Don’t expect more than you’d see on an average Facebook wall here.
ABOUT KA – takes us to a page full of text from Cirque du Soleil’s press release on the show, giving us a brief overview of the concept, acts, plot and the company at large.
KA CHARACTERS – is a visual listing of the myriad of characters that exist in the world of KA. Although laid out like a photo album (each character is on one screen, with its name below), running your finger over the picture will take you to another screen where the character’s motivation (aka description) is foretold. And, unfortunately, there is a tab where you can leave comments about the character (much like the Fan Wall).
QR SCANNER – is obviously to be used in conjunction with Cirque du Soleil and the show KA; however, it is just a generic scanner option.
MY PROFILE – takes you to the before-mentioned profile options, allowing you to connect with either your Facebook or Twitter accounts (or both!).
CIRQUE CLUB – This is an option that takes you to an in-app page for you to sign up for CirqueClub announcements via email, regrettably, not a link to a mobile version of the Cirque Club site or an aggregation of its content in-app. Of all the options available in the app that had the most promise, this one was it, and there’s just nothing to it.
TOP USERS – is a section that breaks down the app’s top users in Daily, Weekly, Monthly and All Time categories. This is interesting because users actually earn points for just about everything they do in the app (so the more you do the more you earn) and when you fulfill certain activities (like commenting, sharing and the like), users earn specific badges (like Gowalla, FourSquare and GetGlue) that can also be shared and displayed.
FAVORITES – is a place where all the topics you “hearted” are saved. As I didn’t “heart” any, there weren’t any for me to see. But should you choose to do so (no doubt earning you points and badges in the process), they’ll be displayed here.
COPYRIGHT – Last, but not least, the generic copyright page. It’s so generic I’m surprised anyone bothered to make it an option from the home screen menus, but there you have it.
The application, developed by Mobile Roadie, can be currently found in the Android Marketplace – it’s 2.44 MB in size and is currently sporting version 0.1.3.1.
It’s free so if you have an Android-based phone, love KA and enjoy interacting with the show as much as possible, this app is for you.
Enjoy!
