Quirky App Of The Day: Chameleon Clock Brings A Nifty Disguise To Your Phone
by Kathryn Zane
August 12, 2012
Chameleon Clock is a simple clock app. The fun of the app comes is how it interacts with the background. Chameleon Clock activates the rear camera to give a live feed of the background while the clock runs. Some of us still have a 3GS and are grateful for photography apps that still feature the rear camera.
Chameleon clock has two different background features. The icon on the bottom left side indicates which feature is turned on. If the chameleon is activated, then the app samples the background and tries to match the color. If you point the camera at something bright, the color will change to white. If you point the camera at a blue shirt, the background color will match the color and hue of the shirt. Obviously, this works best if your finger isn't over the camera lens.
If you tap the chameleon icon and switch it to camera mode,the rear camera turns on and imposes the live feed of the background under the clock. Basically, it looks like a video feed with a clock over it. For all those narcissists out there, I'm sorry. The front camera doesn't activate, so you can't stare at your pretty face while checking the time.
The clock comes in either white or black. Just tap on the numbers to change the color. The numbers can also have their transparency changed. Swipe up or down on the screen to adjust it.
I read some of the reviews in the App Store. Some of them were about the camera feature not working. Sometimes the app would hit a glitch. If I toggled to the chameleon and then back to the camera, the hiccup cleared. It would work just fine. The only problem happened with the camera mode, and it only happened rarely.
Considering that the app isn't really fulfilling a direct need or replacing a native app with a better one, I usually would suggest making the app free and running ads to make money from it. However, I understand that the banner ads would ruin the transparent appearance of the clock. It would defeat the purpose. Erego, I really can't complain about the price. It's like the app that lets you prank your friends into believing that their car has been smashed. It's worth the money to keep banner ads from ruining the app.
Chameleon Clock is a universal app, and it's available for download from the App Store for $0.99.
