FlipBook Lite – Review
By App Type: Uncategorized
Our rating: 
By: Josh Anon
Version #: 1.0.1
Date Released: 2008-08-15
Developer:
Price: 0.00
User Rating:
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A milieu of free drawing apps has been flooding the iPhone since its July 11th release. None of the choices have, until FlipBook Lite, offered an easy-to-use sharing system, or a flip book animation tool, which, essentially, is what distinguishes this drawing app from the rest.
I am not an artsy-type person, and was reluctant to download the app, thinking it would probably take ages to learn how to use and make an animation involving an exploding ball that had been swimming in my imagination since I first set eyes on the app in the App Store. But within 2 minutes of downloading and installing it for free, I read the comprehensive instructions included, and was ready to go.
The basic functionalities of some other drawing apps are really just supplementary in FlipBook Lite, as the crux of the app extends beyond just pressing your finger against the screen and dragging your selected brush color in a distinguishable pattern (or not). It involves using a unique 10-slide system, on which you draw sequential images or on pictures uploaded from your iPhone’s library for your (soundless) flip book animation, and then making use of the simple and exquisitely innovative playback controls. These allow you to play your drawings in sequence when you are done or to check your progress, so as to create a flip book animation, at your selected speed, right on the iPhone’s screen.
After I started working on my aforementioned exploding ball animation, I was amazed at the extensive use of the iPhone’s multi-touch; Three fingers to change size of brush, eraser; Two fingers to swipe from slide to slide; Double-tap to use each tool at a larger range; Basic iPhone two-finger panning with your drawings. Using those functionalities, and the onion layering tool, which provides each progressive slide with a watermark of the previous, I was able to accurately and effectively create an animation involving the exploding blue ball within 10 minutes and upload it to the flipbook.tv to share with the world. Never even attempted to make an animation before. Period. Until FlipBook Lite. And I did it sitting on my couch, watching TV, in less than 10 minutes. Simple, useful, and entertaining.
Quick Take
Value: Medium, as it serves its purpose very tastefully, but does not allow sounds to be added, which would have made it worth the $9.99 for the full version.
Would I Buy Again: I would buy the full version only if a sound option was implemented. Try it out for free first, and see if you don’t mind this minor setback.
Learning Curve: Low
Who is it for: All who enjoy drawing stick people and wish they moved.
What I like: Easy to execute, and fun to mess around with when you’re bored.
What I Don’t: Learning to use the tools to your advantage takes a little bit of time.
Final Statement: I would not say the ability to create more animations would justify the full version’s $9.99 price, so if you’re okay with creating an animation, uploading it to the site, and then erasing it on your iPhone, the Lite version’s the way to go. I am never going back to the other drawing apps. There is much more fun to be had with FlipBook Lite, due to its entertaining functionality.
FlipBook Lite is a trial version of FlipBook. It's fully functional but limited to 2 movies, with at most 10 frames and 2 layers each, as well as 1 movie hosted on flipbook.tv. Purchase the full version of FlipBook to remove those limits. O U R T A K E . . .
