Informed American for Windows Phone 8, helping you keep up with Congress

By George Ponder
last updated

Informed American is a Windows Phone 8 app designed to keep you informed about Congressional activities ranging from bill sponsorship, voting, and financial activities of various Senators and Representatives.  Need to see where a bill is at in Congress?  Informed American will display the recent activity on the legislation and let you pull the full text of the bill up on your Windows Phone.

Many States in the U.S. will be holding mid-term Elections this year and Informed American is a Windows Phone 8 app that may help you make a more informed decision in the voting booth.

Informed American Main Pages

The main pages of Informed American include:

  • Members Page: By default this page will list the House and Senate leaders but if you press the “+” button at the bottom of the page, you can opt to display your State’s Congressional Delegation.
  • Bills: This page will display the most recently introduced bills under consideration by Congress.  The “+” button will give you the options to display bills by category (Senate Bills, House Bills, Joint Resolutions, etc.)
  • Committee: Here you can pull up the various Congressional Committee activities.  From the Committee Page the “+” button will let you filter the committees by Senate, House or Joint memberships.
  • Snapshot: This is a summary page of all Congressional activity.
  • Date Page: Lists hourly activity for the last session date.

In addition to the “+” button Informed American has a back, remove, and re-order button running along the bottom of the main screens.  Up under the three-dot menu on the main page you will find a search button to search for specific members of Congress or bills and a link the app’s About screen.

Informed American Congressional Member's Pages

In tapping on a member’s thumbnail, Informed American will take you to a series of pages highlighting that member’s activities and information.  This information includes financial statements of the politicians, contact information, voting information, and more.

Bill information includes information on the sponsor, current status, action history and the ability to read the full bill.

Informed American Bill Pages

Informed American presents you with a lot of information on Congressional activities and those who were elected to office.  The only drawback is that the user interface needs a little fine-tuning. 

You lack the ability to change the default pages in that every time you launch Informed American, the membership leaders greet you.  It would be nice to be able to launch the app to your local delegation membership.  It would also be nice to pin individual bills or members to your Start Screen to make following them easier.

All totaled, Informed American will give you some insight into what Congress and its members are up to.  Informed American is a free app that is available for Windows Phone 8.

You can pick up your copy of Informed American here (opens in new tab) in the Windows Phone Store.

Informed American

George Ponder
George Ponder

George is the Reviews Editor at Windows Central, concentrating on Windows 10 PC and Mobile apps. He's been a supporter of the platform since the days of Windows CE and uses his current Windows 10 Mobile phone daily to keep up with life and enjoy a game during down time.

74 Comments
  • Informed 'Murican :P jk,looks like a nice app to have if a version was released about Pakistan. :)
  • *liked
  • Puke!!!
  • Like
  • We need a freeking like button, for Christ sake!!! That needs to be at the top of the feature priorities list!!!!
  • Like
  • I thought that was what the +920 button was.
  • Muhammad damn it, why don't we have like and unlike buttons?
  • Lol❕
  • We all need a "like" button for Christ.
  • Whether you like it or not what happens in Washington doesn't stay in Washington because the laws the make affects your lives. If you really don't like politicians and want to pi@# them off, know the truth about them.
  • And, just how are we supposed to know the REAL truth about them❔...... Media❔
  • Well, that is not easy but knowing where their campaign money is coming from and what Bills they are against or for, can help you connect the dots. Burying our head in the sand will only help them achieve their goals, which I think it is to keep us in the dark.
  • We need more scientist, not politician's..
  • Then stop voting politicians/lawyers into office and start voting Scientists/Doctors into office.  Either way, educating yourself in politics is the first step.
  • Just how educated about politics do you think I am❔
  • I think we need scientists and doctors to stay in their respective fields, but I agree that we need civil servants who care about their neighbors, communities, country and the world. I am sure we have some doctors in congress, who are no better than the worst lawyer/politician. In reality, doctors and scientists lose their title as soon as they win an election of any government office, that is why you never hear Doctor Governor or Engineer Senator.
  • No, you don't understand the theory.. You're thinking too conventionally, too within the current guidelines that they want you to keep thinking in.... That's not it.. If you don't think for yourself you'll never understand how things could actually work for the better... Think deeper...
  • You are correct, we can and should do much better, but we will have to work with what we currently have until the Vulcans visit earth and we join the United Federation of Planets.
  • Lol!!! Now you're just being facetious.... Vulcans... You're crazy..
    .....................
    The thing is that Farrakahn is going to lead us all back to the promise land... The mothership is on it's way to pick up the believers... "Swing down sweet chariot stop and let me ride""
    That's what we'll all be singing into the black hole of forgiveness... Come with me brother, come with me please!!
  • :) Very funny, thanks for welcoming me to the WPCentral community.
  • Funny?................
    ......................
    Nevertheless, yes❕ Welcome to our humble abode.
  • I kinda wish that Rich would've written this since he's from the UK. Although, after his last article, he would've probably worded it "Microsoft wants you to watch your Congressman's every move" ;)
  • I died laughing.shut up and take my like.
  • Interesting app. Downloaded and will check it out. I wish more people would take their role in their country more seriously. Do what you can with the tools you have.
  • Definitely
  • By "tools", you mean politician, right?
  • +928
  • +920
  • Thanks and let us know what you think about the app and what we can do to improve it.
  • i have a feeling that this app would make me lose any lingering feelings of patriotism that I ever had.
  • Sounds like Obama is just going to bypass them with executive orders, so why bother watching Congress?
  • Right, because he's the king and can do whatever he wants? There are limits to what can be done via executive orders. Considering that the Republicans have stated numerous times that their only goal is to obstruct Obama in everything, the fact that he's still willing to work with them makes him a fucking saint in my book. There's a reason Congress currently has its lowest approval numbers ever, and it's called Republican obstructionism.
  • They're doing their job.  What's the point of two parties if they must always agree?
  • No, they are not doing their job. Their job is not to simply obstruct. This congress has done less than any other in history. I read recently that Speaker Boehner work schedle is 97 days this coming year. It is not a question of agree. It is a question of governing.
  • I wish there was such a thing as an Informed American when it came to real world news. Their government and media brainwash them with propaganda so they can push their agenda on the world. They want their citizens to know about sports, beer, and sex but they don't want them to know what is really happening in the world SMH.
  • Wait...there is something else happening in the world besides sports, beer, and sex???? You really think the US has a monopoly on that??? SMH
  • You left out Nascar.
  • Kind of like Amsterdam meets north Korea?
  • At first I thought it was broken because it showed no activity from Congress...   But I'm told that it's working perfectly. /s
  • Like
  • +920
  • Ha!
  • +920
  • I could care less what they do anymore. Nothing they've done has been in our best interest. More like in the interest of the power elites of the world.
  • Well what do you expect when everyone in the White House who makes decisions except The President holds an Israeli citizenship? How can they possibly make decisions in the best interest of the "American people"?
  • Wow could this comment be any more wildly inaccurate and inappropriate?
  • I am cynical enough to know that comments can always get more inaccurate and inappropriate, but yes you are right that's up the with the WORST.
  • Not inaccurate... http://youtu.be/tUlNIr7SRWY
  • I'm just waiting for someone to say "illuminati"
  • ILLUMINATI
  • Apathy will improve nothing.  A governemnt "for the people and by the people" means the people need to get accurately informed and take action at the polls.  The voter turnouts have been pathetic. 
  • Did you just come out of a coma? We are way beyond that point. The entire system of government is corrupted by money and has even been codified by the US Supreme Court with Citizens United. Over 70% of an elected officials time in office is spent fundraising. The US government is officially a corporatocracy now and elections make little difference. This will only change when masses of people hit the streets and stay there like we've seen in the Middle East. Our government knows this will happen and sooner rather than later and is already preparing for it. This is not conspiracy theory but fact. 
  • Tell me something I don't know.  The change you suggest assumes the voters give enough of a shit to take action. From what I see, I don't think so.
  • They don't now but they will before much longer. There can be no other outcome. Things can't continue as they are.
  • Agree
  • Every state in the US will be holding midterm elections....
  • Thank you, George, for bringing this to our attention. It takes some effort to learn what really goes on in Congress, and this will help.
  • You don't need to be updated on what Congress is doing because they don't do anything. Everything you need to know they've done for the year can be communicated in just one Tweet. 
  • I definitatly will look at this one.  With all the liberty that the federal government is stealing from us we need the information so we can put the government back in the control of the people as the founders intended as a reprentative republic.
  • +920
  • Good to see another app out there using the OpenSecrets database. They had one a year or so back for WP7, but it died on the vine. Perhaps this one will be updated. I did have a crash when adding the Senators and Reps from my state though, so there's a little work to be done. I also would prefer not to have the "Voted Yes" and "Voted NO" on the member list and perhaps have it just show when looking at particular bills. Right now it is sort of confusing since it applies to different things (bills or motions) in the Member list. Regarding US politics in general, it's all a big mess right now. There's too much money in it. It would be best for everyone involved (except the politicians) if they could reduce the overall size and reach of government. At a minimum we need to actually balance the budget (equal cuts and taxes until its balanced). I suppose it's just the Libertarian in me talking though.
  • Great App! I like the fact you can select and track your local Senators and Representatives...will definitely be using this more now that another round of elections are coming soon...
  • I be from Murica! I needs my info on them politicians...so sweetness!
  • Dang, someone beat me to it...oh well. Thanks for the app info!
  • Good app. Actually works... Very much unlike congress :)
  • Wow, this is a well done app! Good job!
  • This makes me feel good about the work I did, thank you
  • Very helpful. Thanks.
  • Hello WPCentral friends, I am the developer of the application and the first thing I want to say is thank you Windows Phone Central for getting the word out and for doing a great job explaining what the app does and how to use it. To the users, I will take all of your feedbacks into consideration and I will try to keep the app free and without ads until I find a way that will not compromise the user experience. Updates I am working on: 1) Pin Bills and Members to the start scree, as suggested by George Ponder
    2) Add State section that will show local state government Members and Bills where available.
    2) Fix bugs and make the navigation better. Thank you all and thank you George Ponder
  • Glad this app came out for the phone. I've been using on Windows 8 and its a good app. Very up to date on voting results.
  • Thank you, we try to make everything accurate and up to date.
  • No more excuses for blind voting. There's an app for that...
  • I like this ap. The next time a friend or family member complains about how bad the government is, I can just wip this out and say "Well, you know, you can blame that person you voted for for the gridlock, look at his record."