Rapunzel 3D and Goldilocks 3D: Two gimmicky and unfocused e-book appsRapunzel 3D and Goldilocks 3D are two US$1.99 interactive children's books from Bacciz Apps. I'm sorry to say that they're also not very good. They are complicated, inconsistent, and neither provides a satisfying story. Both titles use elements often seen before in other interactive children's books, but this time they are used seemingly at random. I don't believe children will enjoy either of these apps; instead, kids will likely become confused and frustrated at the "everything but the kitchen sink" design approach and the total inconsistency of the implementation.
The first problem cropped up when I tried to navigate the settings screens. There are seven options: Display Text, Hide Text After Narration, Disable Interaction During Narration, Auto Page Turn, Page Turn Swipe, and volume controls for Narration, Sound FX and Music. Each app lets you choose between three songs to play in the background. I can easily see getting rid of at least half of these options.
Tapping on a dog displayed at the top of each page displays even more options. These include Home, 3D mode, Sound, which is a duplication of the settings screen, Share -- which lets you post to email, Twitter, Facebook, send feedback to Bacciz, and a request to rate the app in the iTunes store. There is also an "I Can Read" option, a duplicate of the title page that gives you the option of eliminating the narration until you tap on the text box, but it doesn't give you the option to "Read it Myself" -- that option shows up on the title screen. One positive thing about this mode is you'll see thumbnails that you can swipe to go to any page. However, the text boxes that the app reads to you if you choose "Read to Me" are further complicated by arrows on both sides of the text boxes that make them appear or vanish.Continue reading Rapunzel 3D and Goldilocks 3D: Two gimmicky and unfocused e-book appsRapunzel 3D and Goldilocks 3D: Two gimmicky and unfocused e-book apps originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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