UAB Kaleidoscope, the school’s student newspaper, has hit newsstands every Tuesday for 43 years. The weekly publication is now available on your iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.
In this post, we review the recently released free iPhone app.
Birmingham-based iPhone developers Brian Cauble and Josh Grenon served as our guest reviewers.
UAB Kaleidoscope iPhone app:
opening screen, left, and headlines.
What was your overall experience?
Brian: My overall experience was average. The app offered a good deal of content, but was slow to respond.
Josh: Sluggish.
Do you get the sense that this is a custom app, or a “skinned” app for various sister outlets?
Brian: This was not a custom app.
Josh: This app was created with third-party software, iSites, so I know this is not a custom app. It uses a generic template that all the iSites apps use.
As a news consumer, what did you like? What would you add?
Brian: My favorite aspect of the app was the amount of content. I would definitely allow the user to read articles without having to go to a Wweb view.
Josh: I liked the ability to keep up with UAB by reading the Kaleidoscope headlines. This app contains all the news I’d want to know about the university.
As an app developer, what did you like? How would you improve it?
Brian: As a developer, there wasn’t much to like. The app had a very basic look, was fairly slow to respond, and made you view stories in a Web browser. Those are all things I would change.
Josh: I liked the use of tabs to separate the main sections of the app. I’d add offline access to the application. If no network is detected then the app will not display any data.
Since it’s a free app, would you pay money for it? How much? Why or why not?
Brian: I would probably not pay for the app. The main reason I would even consider paying for the app is because it offers content specific to UAB, which can be hard to get.
Josh: I would not pay for this app, because it does not have offline access.
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See more coverage and reviews of iPhone/iPad apps.
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Brian Cauble (@briancauble) is the co-owner of Appsolute Genius, an iPhone application development company in Birmingham. His other interests include promoting local entrepreneurship through Birmingham Entrepreneur, participating in social media and a huge attachment to college football.
Josh Grenon (@joshgrenon) is a .Net developer by day and an iPhone developer by night. He started developing iPhone applications — such as Bham iCamp — in early 2009. Josh is also executive producer of Inspirageek, a casual yet informative video blog for geeks, and founder of user group Birmingham Mobile Tech.
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