Just over 11 years ago, we launched a Congressional Record app for iPad, soon followed by an expansion to iPhone. This was a great new resource to read the Congressional Record on a mobile device, since the legacy legislative website, THOMAS, was not designed for mobile devices. When we developed Congress.gov, we used responsive design so the entire site would be mobile friendly.
Congress.gov has vastly surpassed the original app in functionality, which has led to very low usage of the app. For instance, with the old app, you could only search within a single issue PDF. On Congress.gov, you can search across all the Congressional Record content available, including the Bound Congressional Record that goes back to 1891. The modern Congress.gov website allows you to get an alert when each issue is published, as well as set up saved search alerts to email you when new items are mentioned in the Congressional Record.
Similar to when we retired THOMAS to focus on Congress.gov, we have made the decision to retire the Congressional Record app. Retiring this app will allow us to streamline our development efforts on Congress.gov. On February 28, 2023, the application will be removed from the App Store and no longer updated. We hope to continue to provide a great experience and more robust website on Congress.gov.
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