Creamer Media has purchased an iPhone and iPad app developed by local company, Prefix Technologies, for use by readers of the Polity.org.za website. Operated and maintained by Creamer Media, Polity aims to deepen democracy by enabling easy access to information on policy, economics, law and politics.

The app is available for free download from Apple’s app store and permits readers to store the content currently loaded into various sections of Polity.org.za as well as the last 10 articles that the user viewed. Cached articles can thus be viewed quickly as the device does not need to reconnect to the server. Users can prompt content refreshes themselves, or get the app to do so automatically.

Users of the app will be able to read not only the full article but also reader comments—and viewing embedded images or multimedia is as easy as tapping the screen.

“Polity is all about harnessing the power of information to empower citizens,” says Creamer Media’s CEO Kenneth Creamer. “But information on its own isn’t enough—it has to be delivered to you wherever you are and in a format that is useful. For those with access to the iPhone and iPad it is now possible to have instant access to the information-rich variety of video interviews, speeches, legislation and policy documents that are published by Polity each day.”

Walter Penfold, managing director of Prefix Technologies, says that the iPhone/iPad app is an extension of the company’s powerful Preditor content management system.

“Preditor was created to enable media houses to centralise all their content and serve it to readers via the channel of choice—Web, mobile, e-mail or print. Information is power—but information in the right place at the right time is what can change the world. The Polity app extends that concept to the consumer of the information.”

Prefix is currently developing a range of similar apps for BlackBerry and Android devices.

Download the app here.

Visit Polity.org.za.