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Much like the event itself, Wimbledon for iPhone is pleasing to the eye, and delivered in the context of an English garden. The app offers schedules, live scores, results, news and video, but a quirky user interface dampens the experience. Developed by IBM, Wimbledon for iPhone is a free download with no advertising. The latest release of the app focuses on customization. The My Wimbledon section allows users to quickly swipe through different elements of the experience and mark their favorites. They can view the on-court weather, read match-related news and select their preferences -- players, events and countries along with the types of news they would like to read. At any time, users can limit other feeds in the app to only their favorites by tapping a star icon in the upper navigation. For example, selecting ladies singles champion Petra Kvitova as a favorite brought only content relevant to the Czech player into the app's feeds. Live scores, results, draws and order of play sections provide key information for fans, and relevant tournament coverage in the form of articles and video can be found in the news section. Elsewhere, users can take in factoids and social sentiments surrounding the event within the "Social Hill." Other features include a live blog, streaming video from on-site broadcast talent, live radio from several courts, archived audio and video, player profiles, photo galleries, a visitor’s guide and a link to the web-based Wimbledon shop. This review was conducted on an iPhone 5 version 7.1.1, with AT&T LTE service.
ADVANTAGES: My Wimbledon offers an intuitive way to consume only desired news. Live scores are well presented and tapping on a match brings up an info graphic showing comparative player performance statistics like aces, double faults, fastest serve and net points won. After the heated gentlemen’s singles championship match, it was interesting to see that Roger Federer was defeated despite serving more than double the amount of aces than Novak Djokovic. The news section of the app is also noteworthy. Highlight videos and press conferences are quick to appear and make catching up on missed action very convenient. Articles can be shared to Facebook or Twitter and images can be pinned to Pinterest boards. The "Social Hill" showcases great information about fan activity on Twitter based on usage of hashtags like #wimbledon, #thehill and #theworld.
DEUCES: While the customization features are there, preferences must be set first in order to reap the benefits. A more prominent call to action for selecting preferences would be helpful, as the My Wimbledon content seems random without doing so. Elsewhere, the results section forces users to select a single match type and date to view match scores. There is no way to view all results in a single feed, and this is frustrating. The "Social Hill," while interesting, would be much more effective if users could reply and retweet directly from within the feed. Finally, in many instances, individual news content items appear two or three times instead of one.
BOTTOM LINE: Wimbledon for iPhone is an app filled with useful features for catching up on match action during the famous fortnight. Customization elements like My Wimbledon give the app some tech bonus points, but the overall experience does not flow as smoothly as it could. Scores and results should be viewable in a single, unfiltered feed, and the "Social Hill" elements should be more interactive. Some interface improvements are needed to bring the app to the next level for '15.
Amie Sheridan (amie.sheridan31@gmail.com) is a freelance writer in Philadelphia.
See Sheridan's previous App Review submissions for THE DAILY:
