INQSnap: Handy guide to Senate bets’ bios, views

MANILA, Philippines–Still unsure whom to vote for? INQSnap can help.

The newly upgraded Inquirer Mobile app, which now includes the INQSnap augmented-reality function, allows the reader to view revealing videos about the candidates for the Senate, compare their positions on hot-button issues, even read in full their answers at the Inquirer Senate Forums—all by “snapping” Sunday’s front page.

The INQSnap package includes a video playlist, consisting of the 15 “getting personal” interviews that Inquirer.net staff conducted with senatorial candidates in the last several weeks, in its INQuest series.

It also includes two PDF (portable document format) files, “mobile-optimized” versions of previous newspaper content.

The first is a 4.8-MB download of all 33 candidates’ “youth-centric” positions, as compiled by the Inquirer’s Super page, on education, human rights, employment, youth programs, the controversial Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act and same-sex marriage.

The second is a summary of the candidates’ stand on political dynasties, reproduced from Talk of the Town.

There is also a photo gallery, which gathers close-ups of the 15 candidates who dropped by the Inquirer office for conversation from the start of the election period.

The INQSnap package includes Facebook and Twitter buttons which link to the Inquirer’s digital newsstand; the complete transcripts of all three Inquirer Senate Forums, in which a total of 23 candidates took part, can be accessed there, free of charge. The transcripts were prepared by Inquirer Research and corporate relations office volunteers, and are in e-book format.

The Inquirer Mobile app can be downloaded for free from the App Store (for iPhones and iPads) and from Google Play (for Android-powered smartphones and tablets). The app’s INQSnap function works easily: Open INQSnap, train it on the page with an INQSnap logo (the page, not the logo) and wait for “buttons” to appear on the device, then click on the buttons to enjoy the extra content. Easier than choosing 12 candidates!