Inspire – Review
App Type: Uncategorized
Our rating: 




By: KiwiPixel
Version #: 1.2 (iPhone OS 3.0 Tested)
Date Released: 2009-05-16
Developer: Inspire
Price: 4.99
User Rating:Admittedly, I dig apps that let a person draw, doodle or paint. However, there are a ton of free ones (or close to it) available in the App Store, so the question is whether or not this particular app is worth $4.99.
Inspire differentiates itself by simulating a painting canvas. In its own way, it’s kind of neat. Imagine those street painters you see in major cities using this particular app rather than an actual canvas.
The set-up of this app reminds me of Sketchbook Mobile in the sense that the canvas is kept as blank as possible for painting, but tapping it causes a pop-up menu to appear.
The options menu allows for painting offsets (moving where the stroke appears relative to the swipe of your finger), corners only (where the menu pops up only when the corners are tapped) and flickable settings (where you can move through paint settings by flicking your finger). All settings are defaulted to "off".
The initial screen of the app looks kind of gaudy and the font looks out of place. For a painting app, the design of the splash page could have been better. The navigation around the app is also kind of awkward. One should be able to start the app and start painting with the single tap of a finger. There should not be a Gallery between these steps.
The central functionality of the app is very nice and almost worth the price of admission. You can control the brushstroke and color for your work of art. You can even use a dry brush to blur the strokes you’ve already done.
Naturally, you can save or e-mail any painting you make. You can also duplicate any painting so it’s possible to save generations of a particular work.
In the end, I see this more as a two or three dollar app rather than a five dollar app. It might be worth picking up if you’re an amateur painter and the price is lowered.
Quick Take
Value:Medium
Would I Buy Again:Possibly, at a lower price.
Learning Curve:Medium
Who Is It For:Amateur painters or painting enthusiasts
What I Like:Nice selection of colors and brushstrokes
What I Don't Like:Outside of the core application, the app seems poorly designed
Final Statement:Unless you're desperate for a painting app, you may want to wait on this one
O U R T A K E ...

