Review: Snowglobe Maker Beach Edition
by Mchase
June 15, 2009
Overview:
Are you an avid traveler? When you go somewhere, do you collect various trinkets and treasures to induce fond memories of your trip to paradise (or wherever you may have gone?) Well, good news! Now, you can collect those treasures in the form of a Snowglobe from the comfort of your own iPhone or iPod Touch!
Features:
Snowglobe Maker allows you to create a multitude of snowglobe-y goodness using a wide variety of preset items. The app also allows you to save your images for you to send to friends and family for birthdays, holidays, special occasions, and so on.
The Good:
This app allows you to be pretty creative. The interface couldn't be simpler, making it easy for parents to sit down and supervise while their children "make" a snowglobe (if they don't want to participate themselves, of course.) The number of combinations possible is pretty high, though there could be more items to choose from. But best of all, it snows when you shake it!
The Bad:
While this app is pretty cool, there are some things that I would probably change. First and foremost, my favorite snowglobes of all time have all had one thing in common - the items inside swirl around inside the water. In this app they are stationary, which is still cool, but let's be real, this is a device that utilizes movement to it's fullest capacity. So, why not use that to your advantage and let the little duckie be free?
Second. At the moment, there are a great deal of combinations. But, certain items are only available on one side of the snowglobe while others are only available on the other. I would like to be able to be in full creative control of my snowglobe and put things where I want them. Yes, I'm a non-conformist. Just another little nit pick, but, as they say, the devil is in the details.
The Verdict
All in all, for $.99, this app is good for families and for sending little "Happy Birthday" or "Get Well Soon" messages. The ability to customize, save, and send your image is a plus, but as I said, it just doesn't feel like a snowglobe to me unless things inside move around. I know, I know... there are fixed items inside snowglobes too... but you get my point.
The devs are putting out an update as soon as the new iPhone update is released that will allow you to send your image from the app itself, which will save you the hassle of having to go through your email. And, who knows, maybe they'll even take some of my suggestions into consideration for future updates. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.
At this point, the app is worthy of downloading, but again, it's probably aimed more toward the people who have kids that would use the app as well.