Heidi Part II – iOS App Review
We recently interviewed the developer of this app, Katrin Draemann Barothy of JustKidsApps, you can read that here. It explains the background to this incredible app, from the original thoughts, to the design and production and finally to sales and marketing. It offers a great insight into app development.
Following our interview we were so enthralled we couldn’t wait to begin our review. This is the second in the abridged series of Spyri’s classic novel Heidi by e-book developer JustKidsApps, the story moves from the Swiss Alps to Frankfurt where the heroine must stay with a wealthy family and as a companion to Klara, a 12-year-old wheel-chair bound girl, but becomes homesick.
Clear Text
Like the first book, the sequel adopts the same intriguing formula of clear on-screen text, interactive characters and useful narration option (in either English or German) to aid either young readers (from 4 or thereabouts) or those who are older but struggling.
Narration
Although the writing style used is accessible and appropriate for the age-group, use of the narration option will enable younger readers to get the most from the story.
That’s not just for the pronunciation of some of the character’s names but also for continuation of text that accompany’s each page of illustrations. If you’re unfamiliar with the layout you might overlook it but this is an e-book, so it’s nicely interactive.
Sound Effects
There are sound effects for readers to enjoy, from the ‘meowing’ of kittens through to door chimes, ‘tick-tocking’ of wall-clocks and, at times, even supplemental conversations. But these aren’t overdone and distract in anyway. And, you can take the narration at your pace, it stops after the two pages of text, and only resumes after you ‘turn the page’.
Conclusion
In all, there are 29 pages each with a high quality illustration while the special effects and narration have all been recorded professionally, but it seems a little unconventional to split the story into three parts. In any event, it doesn’t really detract and may even be used to a parent’s advantage, if a child is somewhat reluctant when it comes to reading stories. Part III and the last in series will be available in September 2011.
To conclude, this is a classic story, narrated, edited and illustrated in the most beautiful way. This book brings joy to whoever has the pleasure of owning it.
Both the iPhone and iPad versions of this app available at a discounted price of 99c and $1.99 respectively. These prices are set to increase after 30 June 2011 to $1.99 for the iPhone version and $3.99 for the iPad version.
Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter, creator of the world’s most popular mobile photography and art website— TheAppWhisperer.com— TheAppWhisperer platform has been a pivotal cyberspace for mobile artists of all abilities to learn about, to explore, to celebrate and to share mobile artworks. Joanne’s compassion, inclusivity, and humility are hallmarks in all that she does, and is particularly evident in the platform she has built. In her words, “We all have the potential to remove ourselves from the centre of any circle and to expand a sphere of compassion outward; to include everyone interested in mobile art, ensuring every artist is within reach”, she has said. Promotion of mobile artists and the art form as a primary medium in today’s art world, has become her life’s focus. She has presented lectures bolstering mobile artists and their art from as far away as the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea to closer to her home in the UK at Focus on Imaging. Her experience as a jurist for mobile art competitions includes: Portugal, Canada, US, S Korea, UK and Italy. And her travels pioneering the breadth of mobile art includes key events in: Frankfurt, Naples, Amalfi Coast, Paris, Brazil, London. Pioneering the world’s first mobile art online gallery - TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com has extended her reach even further, shipping from London, UK to clients in the US, Europe and The Far East to a global group of collectors looking for exclusive art to hang in their homes and offices. The online gallery specialises in prints for discerning collectors of unique, previously unseen signed limited edition art. Her journey towards becoming The App Whisperer, includes (but is not limited to) working for a paparazzi photo agency for several years and as a deputy editor for a photo print magazine. Her own freelance photographic journalistic work is also widely acclaimed. She has been published extensively both within the UK and the US in national and international titles. These include The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Popular Photography & Imaging, dpreview, NikonPro, Which? and more recently with the BBC as a Contributor, Columnist at Vogue Italia and Contributing Editor at LensCulture. Her professional photography has also been widely exhibited throughout Europe, including Italy, Portugal and the UK. She is currently writing several books, all related to mobile art and is always open to requests for new commissions for either writing or photography projects or a combination of both. Please contact her at: [email protected]
