Take Your iPhone 4's Gyroscope For A Spin With Gyro Draw
July 9, 2010
The iPhone 4 features a 3-axis gyroscope to accompany the accelerometer that was first introduced with the iPhone 3G. Few apps have yet to utilize this technology, so the recently released Gyro Draw is in a very small group. This artistic app is able to demonstrate the gyro's accuracy and allow for some fun at the same time.
Gyro Draw allows a person to use the accelerometer or gyroscope in the iPhone 4 to maneuver a pencil around a piece of digital paper. Paper choices include printer, graph, grade school, legal, isometric, notebook, and blueprint. You can adjust the pencil's starting point by tapping and sliding your finger. Once you're set to go, tap and hold on the bottom part of the screen with a finger or thumb and tilt your iPhone to get the pencil to move. Options include choosing the speed of the pencil, pencil thickness, and any of 16 different colors. The in-app menu allows you to clear the entire sheet of paper, save your work to the camera roll, or exit to the main menu.
After using this app for less than an hour, I noticed it does take some definite patience to master the movement. Once you do, you should be able to do some really neat projects. Exported projects seem to always carry a watermark of the app's logo, but that shouldn't be a huge problem for most. My main complaints would be no eraser, the white pencil works with the blank printer paper, and that there are a few quirks and performance issues to be worked out.
Seeing as the app is free for early adopters, however, it's definitely worth giving it a try. The developer has stated that this is an introductory offer, and that the app will eventually cost $.99.
