QuickAdvice: Crayate Turns Your iPad Into a Coloring Book
Crayate ($1.99) by Mr Booth is an app that quickly turns your iPad into a coloring book. The design is simple and effective. Upon launching the app you can select an animal, out of a choice of 20, and one of six scenes. In addition, you can open a page without an animal or scene, at your discretion. Once you’ve made your choices you are given access to 28 crayons of varying colors. The crayons are responsive, easy to use, and there is a nice palette of colors to choose from. You get to see the crayon move as you color for additional feedback.
The app is obviously intended primarily for children, but I must confess I experienced a certain level of childlike zeal during my time with it. While it isn’t an exact copy of a coloring book experience (unfortunately the app is not able to replicate the smell of wax crayons), it’s as close as you can reasonably expect an app to get. Children will find the app fun, flexible, and most importantly, easy to navigate. The interface is easy enough for small children to work with, and once they have completed their masterpieces they can save them to the Photos folder. The creations can be easily set as an iPad background; the 21st Century equivalent to the refrigerator door.
The only negative to the app would be the limited number of scenes, but with over a 100 combinations possible I don’t see that as a significant detraction. Your children will love it, and they can probably color inside the lines better than I.
