Written Android App Review
Active.com
Find Activities: This is the heart and soul of Active.com. From here, the user can browse for events in their area, view details for the event, see each location on a map, read reviews from other participants, share the event on Facebook, and even register for the event and mark it as a favorite. This is a lot of info, so let me break it down for you.
Settings: First things first – set your preferences! This will greatly help improve your search results and weed out anything you aren’t interested in. After pressing “Find Activities” on the main screen, press “Settings” in the upper right hand corner. From here, you can set the location, how you want results sorted, date range for events and most importantly, filtering. Filtering, when selected, will allow you to remove categories which are of no interest to you. By default, everything is selected. So if you’re not into fishing or baseball, for instance, simply uncheck them and those results which match those categories will no longer appear. Brilliant, I know. The date range could be of special interest as well. Perhaps you are traveling and want to know what events are happening while you’re there. Simply change your location in the settings, set your date range for when you’ll be there, and search! No more excuses for boring trips!
Searching: Now that you have set your preferences, it’s time to search! Honestly, this part couldn’t be simpler. Are you interested in walking? Simply type “walk” and press the magnifying glass. You will see results for your search for your hometown as well as those near you. In fact, thanks to Active.com, I am now signed up for my first ever 5K! I even got the entire family involved in it! Although I have wanted to do one for a while now, I never had a convenient method of finding these activities. That is, until I found Active.com!
Event Details: By now you should have found a local event. If not, keep looking! Once you have found one, simply click on it and an overview screen will appear. You will see a lot on the screen since this is where it all happens. You can read a brief review of the event and see more details on the event by pressing “View Details”. There is also an option to show the even on a map in case you aren’t sure about the location. If this is an event you have done in the past, leave a review and mark it as a favorite! In fact, you can even “Like” it on Facebook! At the bottom of the screen is a large, green button that says, “Register now”.
Show on Map: Not sure where an event is located? Simply click ‘Show on Map’ to view the exact location! That’s all there is to it!
Read Reviews: If others have attended this event in the past, there just might be some reviews here! Each review is rated 1-5 stars (5 being the best of course). If an event sucks, you’ll know right away!
Register Now: This button will take you to the website using your phone’s browser and allow you to register for the event. However, registering on a cellphone may not be the easiest thing due to tiny screens and keyboards. I would recommend marking it as a favorite or “Liking” it and then registering once you’re at a computer. But if you’re on the go and really want or need to register (due to space limitations and a quickly filling roster), you have the option in the palm of your hands!
Share and Like: I combined these two features due to their apparent similarities. If you’re on Facebook, feel free to click “Like” and share it with your friends! If you need more sharing options, however, you can click the “Share” icon in the upper right hand corner of the screen which will allow you to share in any way your phone can. For instance, on my phone, I can share through Bluetooth, Evernote, Dropbox, Catch, email, WordPress, text/SMS, Google Voice, and even turn it into a QR Code.
Read Articles: Although Active.com is primarily a place to find local fitness events, they also have a surprisingly extensive database of articles. This database is constantly being added to with new and relevant information. In addition, it is easy to navigate and find what you want. Along the bottom of this screen is the ability to search by latest articles, categories or do a more specific search. By default, Latest is selected. However, I was quite impressed with the categories searching. Articles are not only broken down by sport, as I would have expected, but are comprehensively broken down into a main category and then a subcategory. For instance, the main categories are:
Endurance: This includes any endurance sport, such as cycling, mountain biking, running, walking, swimming and even triathlon!
Active Lifestyle: This area is for more than just sports! Brush up on the latest news in nutrition, fitness and travel. Or educate yourself on how to be more active as a family, improve both your body and your mind, or find articles geared specifically towards women.
Team Sports: Just like it says – baseball, basketball, football, soccer, softball, tennis, volleyball and water sports!
Outdoors: This has only one subcategory which is also named ‘Outdoors’. I’m not sure if this is a new category for them or if they simply needed a broader category and ‘Outdoors’ was better than saying miscellaneous.
Layout
Despite all the features I listed, by no means is Active.com’s app complicated. In fact, this is one tidy app with easy to read font and clean colors. The primary colors are dark blue, light blue and white. Everything in this app can be visually scanned quickly thanks to a logical and proper layout. I award five stars for a pleasant interface experience!
