"Lisboa 2023": WYD official app now available
The World Youth Day (WYD) Lisbon 2023 app is now available and can be downloaded for free on both Android and iOS. The "Lisboa 2023" app will be available in the five official languages of the meeting: Portuguese, English, French, Spanish and Italian. It will also be accessible in offline mode, allowing access to almost all content even in situations of limited internet access.
With the name "Lisboa 2023", the application was made available by MEO, as a technological partner and founder of WYD Lisboa 2023, and developed by Bliss Applications, with the aim of helping participants in orientation and logistics during the week of WYD Lisboa 2023.
In addition to helping pilgrims orientate themselves on everything that is and will happen throughout the week, the application will allow the activation of notifications, for last minute reminders and warnings, and access to useful and emergency contacts.
In addition to providing the entire programme for the six days of WYD with a schedule of the week's events for the Central Events, Youth Festival, City of Joy and Rise Up Meetings, the app will contain a map. This resource will allow you to interactively locate the different events, visualise the venues and also find information on catering, including restaurants that are part of the catering network, and the location of drinking fountains, toilets in the city, health posts, police stations, among other services.
In these two tools, agenda and map, pilgrims will be able to search for the events they are looking for more information by category, language, time, keywords or even according to the user's current location.
All the spiritual content of the day, in particular the readings and songs of all the Central Events, as well as the official Hymn and Prayer of WYD Lisbon 2023, will be accessible from the Up2Pray section.
Also in the app it will be possible to access the Carbon Footprint Calculator, developed with the support of Novo Verde/ERP Portugal, which will measure the carbon consumed by each pilgrim. Each person will know the impact of their participation in WYD Lisbon 2023 in terms of carbon footprint, through a questionnaire. This tool begins by identifying the impact on the journey to Lisbon, and daily encourages the user to adopt more sustainable behaviours that allow the mitigation of its initial result. It is in the reserved area of the application that the pilgrim will have access to the Calculator. The launch of this tool is a response to the call to care for the common home that Pope Francis left in the Encyclical Laudato Si'.
All those registered for WYD Lisbon 2023, such as pilgrims, volunteers, clergy or media, must register in the "Lisboa 2023" application using the Credential QRcode, to access their user profile, with various information, such as the chosen food package (including the digital voucher), the sector in which they are allocated in Campo da Graça, in Parque Tejo, the place where the Rise Up Meeting will be in which they will participate, the carbon footprint calculator, the contact of the group leader (if applicable) or the digital credential.
For Madalena Mexia, responsible for the Lisbon 2023 App, this was only possible "With the commitment and dedication of MEO and Bliss Apllications", having developed "a tool that focuses on freeing the pilgrim to live the Journey 100% and reinforces the organisation's commitment to promote a more sustainable international meeting". Thus, the APP aims to be an "easily accessible tool for all pilgrims to consult in real time all the content and information useful to their daily lives of the Journey", he added.
Pedro Varela, Commercial Manager of Bliss Applications, recognised that this was an ambitious and challenging project to work on. "Developing from scratch the application that accompanies all pilgrims and those involved in WYD is both a privilege and a huge responsibility, since, through our knowledge in the areas of design and technology, we intend to offer a unique, memorable and above all relevant experience to all who will be present at this great event", he said.