Written Android App Review
Growing up birds were my Dad’s thing, and he sure would have loved an Android app to aid him in his bird watching endeavors. I can remember taking looooooong (and I mean like Alaska to Tennessee long) car trips with my family and not being allowed to use headphones because I might miss either seeing, or hearing a bird. Big birds, little birds, even ugly birds, it didn’t matter, my Dad thought they were fantastic. At the time this drove me one step from crazy, but now as I am watching my father share this love with my own little girl, I am starting to see the beauty. My little one loves to hear the “birdies” sing as she and papaw sit on the porch trying to pick out one bird from another.
This is where Audubon Birds Android app comes in! With one simple Android app I am able to open up an entire world full of our fine feathered friends to my child. She can see the pictures, learn fun facts, and even hear how different birds sing to one another. Now, this all sounds wonderful, but can Audubon Birds really deliver? Let’s find out.
Audubon Birds
Features
When I spent time with Audubon Birds to perform the Android apps review, I found that it was packed with features. Over 750 different types of birds, every fact you could think to ask for and over 6 hours of pre-recorded birdsong. It’s all there! Audubon Birds is in depth enough for even the most avid bird watcher, yet is basic enough for even a novice to use. The design is simple, straightforward and well thought out. Search by name, search by shape, search by location, truly the designers have thought of everything on this front…..they just haven’t figured out how to make it all work together quite yet.
Functionality
If features are the strength, then functionality is the weakness. During the review process, the Android app only worked about half the time, and sometimes it wouldn’t work at all. Then, at other times half of the features would work perfectly, while others would lead you to nothing but a blank screen. I’ll be honest, this is frustrating. Now, if you go check in the Android Market, the developers have provided a few tips to help the program run better, and they have a help line that you can call for support. Both of these things help with the functionality issue, but its just a lot to deal with and I would simply like for the app to work on its own without my having to jump through hoops. Is that too much to ask?
Audubon Birds
Value
With Audubon Birds, value is a bit of a slippery slope. After all, this is an app that promises quite a bit, it just doesn’t consistently deliver. That makes it hard for me to fully embrace the $9.99 price tag. Especially when I see that this is only a temporary price reduction from their standard $14.99. The features are great, but I would almost rather the developers start with fewer features that work well then push through a packed app at a lower quality. If functionality improves, then values will improve right along with it. Until that day? It’s just okay.
Android Apps Review Details: Audubon Birds Android app costs $9.99. This app requires Android 2.1 and up. You may download Audubon Birds from the Android Market.
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