Weather Apps

Weather Apps
     So, this review will be for 3 different weather apps in one post.  I downloaded all of these while looking for a cute weather app.  I wanted to see if any of them would be able to replace the default weather app I usually use.

かりんの天気予報 (Karin Weather Forecast)
     I thought this app would be similar to an app that is no longer available called Moe Weather.  I was never able to use the app but it had a character read the local weather for you.  I can't really compare the two since I never used the Moe one but that was what inspired me to download this app.

     The Karin character featured in the app is cute.  However, there is nowhere in this app to set your location.  I assume it uses your current GPS and only uses locations in Japan.  Since I am not in Japan... this did not work.  It doesn't even give you the Japanese weather if you're curious to know what the weather is in Japan.  I can only assume you have to be in Japan for the app to work at all.

     There is a scroll bar on the side to make Karin smaller or bigger so you can see the map behind her.  She reacts when you tap on her but she does not make any noises.  Putting your finger on the screen and dragging it around will result in her following your finger movement with her head.  Users can also select an outfit for her from the settings menu in the top right.  The options are a Gothic Lolita costume, and two uniforms in pink or blue.

     The translation for the options menu is as follows:
Sound options
On Off
Bookmark startup location (Meaning to remember the location you initially access the app in rather than changing based on current location)
On Off
Change Clothes
3 options available...

     The top left toggle on the main screen is whether or not to show the temperature.  The right side of the board shows the current date.

     This visuals of the app are fine but the app not working outside of Japan or having any languages available aside from Japanese are a problem.  I would not recommend wasting time downloading this application for weather.

Rating: 1/5

• Free
• Seller: Satoru Umezawa
• Category: Weather
• Size: 41.9 MB
• Languages: Japanese
• Copyright: © 2018 dailyanime.news

Rated 12+ for the following: Infrequent/Mild Sexual Content and Nudity

Boo Weather: Pomeranian Puppy
     For those who have not heard of Boo, Boo is a Pomeranian dog who's photos have circulated all over the internet.  It is a cute and happy looking dog with a round headed teddy bear Asian fusion cut.  The images in this application of of this specific dog.  They are randomly generated for each location and cycled every hour (Like the Yahoo Weather app).
 
     When you start the app cute text pops up saying 'Boo: The world's cutest dog'.  Seems a bit presumptuous off the bat.  However, the app itself is easy to understand and fairly user friendly.

     This works just like the Yahoo Weather app.  Swiping left and right cycles through locations you have added.  To add new locations there is a +City icon that allows users to add more cities to the list.

     Tapping the Boo head button at the bottom brings up an option to pay 2.99USD to remove the ads from the app.  The share button is pretty self explanatory.  The settings app allows users to change the temperature from Fahrenheit to Celsius or visa-versa.

     Within the Settings users can also opt to get notifications when new Boo images are added, Help/FAQ/etc, the Booweather website and the ability to pay to remove ads again.

     On the main screen when checking the weather, aside from the dog image in the background you will see the city name, temperature, the day's high/low and what the weather condition is (Snow, overcast, fog, etc).  Swiping up will allow access to more information.

     In the swipe up section wind, humidity, UV index, visibility, 7 day forecast, radar, hour by hour forecast, sunrise and sunset time as well as some other information... and several ads.

     The popup asking users to rate the app is quite aggressive.  Upon opening the app I got the popup 3 times in under 5 minutes.  Of course I'd assume adding my rating to the app page would stop these.

     The app is alright... basically a dog themed version of the Yahoo Weather app.  The ads can sometimes get in the way, but not terribly often. That being said it is a solid application and does what it is supposed to.

Rating: 3.5/5

• Free
• Seller: Weather Creative Inc.
• Category: Weather
• Size: 78 MB
• Languages: English
• Copyright: © 2017 Weather Creative Inc.

Rated 4+

Weather Kitty: Forecast & Cats
     This is a cat themed weather app that is essentially identical to the Boo weather app I just reviewed above, at least in functionality.  However, there is some minor difference in the options.

Like the Boo app the main screen shows the city, temperature, etc, along with a random cat image.  Some of the cat images are cuter than others.

     Swiping left and right changes the location, and more locations can be added with the button at the bottom of the screen.

     In the Settings menu there are the same options as the Boo app but there is no link to the BooWeather website.  Instead there is a link to the featured animal shelter.  Clicking this gives you some information on the shelter and a link to the website for that shelter.

     Swiping up is how you get to the more detailed weather information where you can find the forecast over the next several days and so on.

     The buttons at the bottom of the main screen have the added bin icon to remove ads as well as a Kittens button.

     Unlike the Boo Weather app the ad removal here is a bit different.  To remove the ads users have to sign up for a Meow Prime Plan.  these are subscription packages that range from one month to 6 months to a lifetime subscription plan.  The subscription removes the ads but also gives you access to all of the Kitten themes.

     Kitten themes can be accessed by tapping the Kitten button at the bottom of the main app page.  All users have access to the Default theme which is what the app has upon downloading.  There is a free theme called Crazy Cat Art as well.  There are several other themes but users need to have Meow Prime in order to download and use them.  These themes include Yoga Cats, Sphynx, Holiday Kitties, Kitty Love and many more.  Users can even create their own theme by uploading their own cat images (Requires Meow Prime).  The themes will change the images available for the main page backgrounds.

     The app is cute and does what it is intended to do.  The functionality is simple and it has an easy user interface.  I think the fact that you can upload your own images is a great feature, though I'm not sure I'd wish to pay for it.

Rating: 3.5/5

• Free
• Seller: Weather Creative Inc.
• Category: Weather
• Size: 124.5 MB
• Languages: English
• Copyright: © 2015 Weather Creative Inc.

Rated 4+

MoeAlarmClock -Talking Alarm Clock-

Moe Alarm Clock - Talking Alarm Clock App for iPhone
     For those of you that enjoy 'clock applications' to use when your phone is just sitting on your desk, doing nothing of any importance, this could be a nice application for you.  It really depends on your preference and how picky you are.  As for me... I'm not one for clock apps.  If I were to use one though, you had better believe I'd be very picky about the quality.
     I'm going to start off with the colour scheme of this application.  The bright primary colours make me think of a Kindergarten class and a box of Crayola.  It doesn't seem cute or professional or even well thought out.  I do not like the colour scheme at all.  It almost seems like they just chose completely random colours.
     The artwork: I'm not impressed.  mind you this artwork isn't 'bad'.  I'm glad the artist is working on their style and trying to use their creativity in a fun and possibly new way.  however, when I download an application, I expect a certain amount of 'professionalism'.  This includes the quality of the artwork.  I wouldn't even consider my own artwork to be app quality, and I've sold a lot of art.
     Alright, let's move on to the features.  What does this application do, besides just tell time?
     Well, it is called a 'talking' application.  When you start it up you will be greeted by the maid.  She will refer to you as "Master".  However, this is all spoken in Japanese.  The voice acting is good, but the sound quality is not the best.  You can hear some background static when the audio is playing, and the voice is a bit muffled.  Sometimes you can even hear what sounds like background noise I believe this is on purpose, and supposed to be 'digital sounds', but it just sounds like noise.
     The red "A" in the top right corner is for the audio settings.  You can change the audio to be low, medium or high.  Click the Mario "?" box ripoff icon to make her speak, so you can test that volume.  She says several different phrases.
     It looks like the maid character should be in the bottom left corner, but she's hovering over the text at the top, leaving the bottom corner barren.  It looks like it may have been improperly coded.
     The red clock in the middle is for setting an alarm schedule.  It is in military time.  You can set up to 2 alarms.
     The "T" icon is for posting to Twitter.  It is a means of promoting this application to your Twitter followers.  Now, if I knew the app creator and I wanted to support them as a friend, I would Tweet about their application.  But as someone who downloaded the application and was disappointed by the quality, I shan't be doing that.
     Now I can tell this was probably just made by a person just starting out making applications, or perhaps a group of people, and not by a professional company.  I have to give them respect for putting themselves out there.  However, I can't be bias and have to judge this application the way I would judge any application.
     I don't like the art, or the sound quality.  The concept is good (Over-used, perhaps, but it's popular) and the voice acting is good.  The character animations are single frame animations.  The colour scheme needs to be changed.
     I do like that you can set two alarms instead of one.  However, the clock can not run in the background.  So unless you plan to turn off your lock feature, and let this run all night, I don't see how useful an alarm is going to be.  That is my concern for most alarm clock applications though.  So that's not an issue with just this app.
     If you really like this application from what you see in the screen shots, it 'is' free.  But there are just so many 'cute' alarm clock applications out there that have much higher quality (That are also free)...  I just can't really think of a reason to chose this one over the others.
Rating: 1.8/5

• Free
• Category: Entertainment
• Updated: Jul 07, 2010
• Version: 1.3
• Size: 11.2 MB
• Languages: English, Japanese
• Seller: Masahiro Kurokawa
• © 8casette

Rated 4+

Operation Girl -01-

Operation Girl -01- App for iPhone
     Turn your iPhone into a robot girl.  She will update you on your phone's specs and power usage as well as play music for you and tell you the time.  Now if only she could make me a nice cuppa tea...
     The screen to the right is what appears upon starting up the application.  It is essentially the load screen.  When the application is loaded it starts the program on it's own.  There is no start or stop functionality.
     Let's start with the artwork... It's clean but very ... low grade, to me.  Not really what I would consider a high quality drawing.  Especially the hair.  It looks like something drawn by a very young person.  Perhaps one that is just starting out.  not that this isn't fine.  We all must start somewhere, right?  But for an application I have a certain level of expectations, as far as visual quality goes.  It's a free application, but I still feel they could have done a bit better on the girl's drawing.  After all, it's the only real visual in the app...
     Now on to the functions of the application...
     Please note the character's eyes.  The left eye will show you the time.  It is in standard military time.  The right eye is the currently selected function.  in the case of the image to the left, that function is music player mode.  Clicking the eye will start the music player.  A circle will appear over her image with the music buttons.  The buttons are back track, forward track, play and song select (At the top).
     Every time you hear her make her machine sound, and blink, the currently selected function on her eye will change.  It cycles through.  Don't worry, she'll still play your music, even when she's in another mode.
     The music is whatever happens to be on your device.  She can not stream music via another application.
There is also a "Map" mode, which will use your phone's GPS to locate you on the map.  it does not give directions or have a search function.  It simply shows you, and the area around you.  You can use the swipe and pinch functions to zoom out and move the map position about.
     She also has a camera function.  Clicking this will bring up your phone's camera.
     Lastly, there is a clock function... Which seems silly since the other eye displays the time...  Clicking it will bring up what you see to the right.  An hour, minute and second hand that will move accordingly.  it also displays the date and time at the bottom.
     The bottom left of the screen displays the battery life of your phone, what you've opened recently, within the app  The application information and the time and date.  So... nothing that your phone doesn't normally do for you at the top of the screen, aside from the app information.
     You can zoom in or out by swiping top to bottom, or bottom to top.  You can also cycle through her modes by swiping across the screen.
     Lastly, there are options available by clicking the gear button in the upper left corner of the application.  Thank goodness for this option... Because within here you can turn off that ruddy machine sound affect that goes off once every 10 seconds.  Otherwise it just tells you how long the application has been active and the website for the app creator.
     I really found this to be a pointless application.  The sound was so irritating, though fortunately the option to turn it off exists.  The art left much to be desired.  Not very bad, but not great.  The app didn't do anything I couldn't do without the application.  The map function seemed pointless, as did the clock function.  I just don't really see any reason to download this application.  I'm really trying to think of one, but I don't have anything, sorry.  This is really a pointless application.  I would prefer the app creator thing of functions for the application that could be more innovative.  Have the app track all the diagnostics for the hone.  not just battery live.  Have it track how much space is left on the device, the temperature of the device, something...  And a feature that allowed the robot girl to speak would make this much better.  Even if it's just a few simple phrases, depending on the function.  For example, she could speak the time when you click the clock function.  I think they had an interesting idea when they made this application.  They just didn't bring out the idea's full potential.  It's too basic and boring.  Until they do something to spice it up, this is getting a low rating from me.
Rating: 1.5/5

• Free
• Category: Entertainment
• Released: Jul 20, 2012
• Version: 1.0.0
• Size: 1.8 MB
• Languages: English, Japanese
• Seller: Toshiaki Shou
• © DEZAMISYSTEM

Rated 4+

Cute Photo Sticker Free -- Perfect Frames For Your Photos

Cute Photo Sticker Free App for iPhone
     This application has recently been removed from the app store, along with it's paid version counterpart.  I am not 100% sure as to why... However, in case you are able to download it elsewhere, I'll let you know a bit about the application, from my experience.
     This is one of the worst applications for photo editing I've used... Alright, I said it... Let me fill you in on 'why'...
     Most importantly (To me) it does not properly use your photo.  When you use a photo from your album, it will either show the photo sideways (Whether it's landscape or portrait, doesn't seem to matter), or it zooms way in (As you can see on the photo to the right), and does not allow you to resize or zoom out.  This makes editing your photos a bit of a chore.  Taking a new photo usually displays properly, however.
     This is the free version.  the paid version is 99 cents.  The paid version has more frames and stickers, as well as allowing you to choose a frame while taking the photo, rather than afterward.
     Back to the free version...
     There are 20 frames.  many of these same frames are available on the free website Puricute.com.  I am not entirely sure the app creators had permission to take these frames, as they do not give credit to the source at all.
     There are also 25 stickers, 4 pen sizes and some colour filters (IE making your photo look green or blue, etc).
     When you are finished you can click the wrench icon to either choose a different photo, save your photo to your device or purchase the paid version of the app (Which wont work, since it is no longer in the app store).
     This application has limited decorations.  The ones it has aren't very useful.  The frames usually only have a small spot for the photo, and a huge area for the frame itself.  The photos do not properly display and the filters are a bit of a joke (Who wants to just change the colour of the photo?).  Thank goodness this is a free application.  I certainly wouldn't be paying for the full version.
     I am not sure why this was removed from the app market.  It is possible that it was because of the frames and stickers that they did not have permission to use.  That is only speculation, however.  I am sure you can find this application somewhere on an unofficial app provider, but... Why bother?  There are much better apps available for free.
Rating: 1/5

Melanoma Watch

Melanoma Watch App for iPhone
     I downloaded this application because of the cute icon... To my dismay, the application itself was ... not up to par.
     One would think that this application would to full of useful information about melanoma and tell you what to watch for and so on.  That is not what we have in this application.  It looks like someone did a Google image search for some reference photos and stuck them together and called it an app.
     We start with a search... We can choose things via the search, but it just takes us to the image wheel.  If we search through the image wheel there is still no actual information.  Just tiny images.
     No where that I have found, does this application link you to real information.  I would suggest skipping the application all together and just doing a Wiki search.  You'd get a lot more out of it.
     You would think that the magnifying glass on the image wheel would make the selected image larger.  This is not what it does. The magnifying glass, when selected, takes you to the text search.  When you select something through the text search, it takes you to the image wheel.
     Selecting the play button on the image wheel makes the application slowly go through each image.
     Clicking the home button takes you to the top screen with the drawing of the purple haired girl and the "start button".  Which seems sort of pointless, to be honest.
     Not only is this application next to useless, it has been known to crash on some devices.
     I would not recommend downloading this application.  You'd be better off with Wiki, or just using a Google image search, which is more than obviously all these people did.
     There is an option to buy the application to get rid of the ads at the bottom.  Assuming that's all it does (Since that's all it claims to do) I honestly wouldn't bother.  I am deleting the free version off of my phone immediately upon finishing this review.  Don't waste your time on it.
Rating: 1/5

• Free
• Category: Medical
• Released: Aug 05, 2010
• Version: 1.0
• Size: 4.3 MB
• Language: English
• Seller: William Wray
• © pixid ltd

Rilakkuma Shopping List

Rilakkuma Shopping List App for iPhone
     You may have noticed I only have one screen capture for this application.  That would be because it doesn't work/load.  I'm not sure how well the Android version works.  I have to say, the application can be as adorable as possible, but without the ability to function... It's going to lose some points in my book.  Especially when you have paid for it.
     The first day I downloaded this app, I'll admit that it worked great!  It allowed me to choose different backgrounds for my list.  Create multiple lists.  Add items and cute Rilakkuma icons next to the various items on the list.  I was going to give this a really nice review.
     Day two, I click the icon, the app screen comes up, then it disappears... it wont load.  I try it every day, every day it wont load.  I updated the OS... still wont load.  Apparently this has been an ongoing problem with this app.  People have been trying to contact the support about it, bu no one gets any response, and the app doesn't get updated.  I have had a similar problem with this company in the past.  They don't seem to read the reports... or they just don't care.  For a professional organization, I find this to be very problematic.  We are paying for these applications.  You could at least update them.  Why they don't reply to support inquiries is beyond me.
     I am sorry, Rilakkuma!  but I have to give this application a low score.  Don't download it, you'll be wasting your money.  I'll make an update if the app ever gets updated and fixed.
Rating: 1/5

• $1.99
• Category: Lifestyle
• Updated: Feb 28, 2012
• Languages: English, French, Japanese
• Seller: Imagineer Co.,Ltd.
• © (C)SAN-X CO.,LTD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. (C)Imagineer Co.,Ltd

Rilakkuma Flags

Rilakkuma Flags App for iPhone
     This is a rather simple game applications.  Rilakkuma and Korilakkuma will show you a flag colour and a direction (Up or down).  Your job?  Lift or drop your flag of that colour at the same time (Or very quickly).
     As much as I adore Rilakkuma and little Korilakkuma, I have to say that I am really disappointed with this game.  it's a bit 'too' simple.  To the point of being very dull.  Lift the red flag... Lift the white flag... Lift the red flag... Drop the white flag... Over and over until you mess up  four times  I'm all for simple... This goes beyond simple.
     At first i thought that perhaps this game was just targeted at a far younger audience, and as an adult I simply wasn't able to enjoy it.  But I am willing to bet even a child would not be entertained by this for more than two minutes at most.  Adorable teddy bears can only do so much for a game.  If it isn't fun... it isn't fun.
     Now this might be somewhat redeemable if it were a free application.  however... that is simply not the case.  you have to pay for this.  I feel bad for giving such a negative review to a Rilakkuma game, but it has to be done.  I would suggest not downloading this unless you are able to somehow get it for free (Perhaps it will go on sale in the future).  It just isn't worth the money.
     It tried to add a little bit of a challenge with 3 game levels.  Easy, medium and difficult.  But I don't think a challenge is what this game needs.  It needs a bit of depth and entertainment.
     In closing... Not worth the money.  Barely worth the download, even if you get it for free.  it's cute... I'll give it that.  But otherwise... I'm not happy with this purchase.  Sorry, Rilakkuma!
Rating: 1.5/5

• $1.99
• Category: Games
• Size: 11.0 MB
• Languages: English, Japanese
• Developer: Imagineer Co.,Ltd.
• © (C)SAN-X CO., LTD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. (C)Imagineer Co., Ltd.

Dog-A-Like

Dog-A-Like App for iPhone
     Although I commend the group for trying to build awareness and trying to get people to adopt dogs at the Pet Rescue, I have to rate this application based on what it is, and not the reason for making it.
     I didn't catch on when I first used this, but I was a bit suspicious since the photos I ran through it didn't seem anything like the dogs it was giving me as matches.  So I tried using the same photo multiple times... Same photo, different dogs... So then I tried running photos of things that weren't faces.  My hand got a "Face Match"... My shoe got a "Face Match"... the floor also got a "Face Match".  And no, this I do not live in Pee-Wee's Playhouse.  So those things do not have faces.  The entire time it says it's searching for your face, it isn't doing anything with your photo at all.  It's merely running a random generator to select a dog at random.  It is not based on the photo, whatsoever.
     Though the dogs are indeed cute, I can't give this application a good rating since it's not really finding a match based on your photo at all.  I may as well just do a Google search for "dog" and say "That's my dog" to the first image that pops up.

Rating: 1/5

• Free
• Category: Utilities
• Size: 9.9 MB
• Language: English
• Seller: Tequila
• © Tequila, Australia 2011