If you grew up in the 70's and 80's, there was a good chance you owned a Lite Brite and had a toy chest full of those colored pegs scattered all over the place. Fast forward to the modern age and with the help of Apple's $500 tablet and the introduction of the new
iBrite app from developer Clever Twist, reliving those childhood memories is just a few taps away.
iBrite is essentially a drawing application that models itself after the iconic Hasbro toy. Instead of using a pen or marker, Lite Brite allowed you to create images using a back lit light bulb and translucent plastic colored pegs that would be illuminated when you inserted them onto a honey combed like surface. There were predesigned templates to help you create drawings but it pretty much gave you free reign to express yourself with light and color. Aside from losing those pesky pegs or running out of your favorite colored ones, hours of fun could be had.
With iBrite, the same enjoyment is there minus the need for all of those pieces. Start with a blank slate and choose your colored "peg" using the color palette. You can drag your finger across the drawing surface to lay down a series of pegs or drop them individually for finer control. Multitouch also allows you to pinch in and out of areas of your image to create more detail. If you make a mistake, there is an undo button to correct your error.
Once you're done, you have only one option to save your creation to the in app gallery. Surprisingly, there is no share feature to be found. An option to email or post to Facebook or Twitter would have been ideal. Hopefully we see a future update that incorporates this much needed function. In the meantime, you can always take a screen shot and send that off.
iBrite is simple fun and will definitely offer plenty of nostalgic joy for kids young or old. If you have a small child like I do, this is the perfect way to keep them occupied for hours. Aside from the image sharing issues, iBrite is a good pick up at $1.99.
Pick up iBrite on the App Store today.
[Update 4/29/10]
A quick message to the developers using the in app feedback tool has helped to clarify the image sharing function. Apparently the feature is available but it wasn't immediately apparent from navigating the app's interface. If you access iBrite's gallery and press and hold down on your image, a pop up box will appear giving you the option to email, save to your photo library or upload to Facebook. This definitely addresses the issues I had in my initial review. Additionally, the developers have also set up a weekly design contest on their Facebook page where you can send in your creation and be entered to win a weekly $10 iTunes gift card. Not too shabby.
