In the past two days the number of downloads has already starting to clock up, reaching 430 yesterday. 

Peter Young was just one of the happy app users, applauding the assignment and news tip functions that tap into the iPhone’s camera and photo gallery so readers can create their own news.

“It’s quite innovative... and it’s free,” the CWD columnist on film, technololgy and popular culture  said.

“Newspapers have really only been a one way street, but this allows a brand new level of interactivity between readers and the paper.

“It connects directly with the [phone] camera making it extremely easy to take photos and send them in.”

Already photos are coming in from readers who have captured  what they love about summer in Orange to put them in the running to win an iPhone 5.

“Not everyone wants to write a column for the paper or a letter the editor, people want to submit something quickly,” Mr Young said.

“You can even drop an email to your favourite writer.”

As well as giving readers the chance to send in  news tips and photos, the simple design of the app has handy icons on the homepage keeping all your favourite sections of the CWD just a finger tap away.

“It’s a good way to get a quick snapshot of what’s happening but doesn’t diminish from the experience of reading the paper itself,” Mr Young said.

“It’s a good addition to the digital edition.”

 Mr Young said the app would use less bandwidth than loading the mobile version of the CWD website making it ideal for iPhone users trying to minimise their  mobile internet data usage.

An Android version of the app is currently in development.

You can download the app here.