Science has always been a sore subject for me. Maybe it was because I bombed chemistry class in senior high, or struggled with physics in college, but I could never wrap my head around the complexities of the world around me. That is at least until an iPhone app showed me just how awesome science could be. And while it’s not your LHC atom crushing awesome, it’s your accessible easy to do yet you never thought of kind of awesome.
If you’re ever interested in learning how to turn water into ice instantly with a touch of nothing but your finger, this is the app for you.
EXPERIMENTER honestly has to be one my favorite iPhone apps of all time.
While it’s not a productivity tool that so many are on the lookout for, it’s an app that not only engaged me, but one I kept coming back to because there were a lot of “wow” moments. Moments that I actually shared with my friends between classes. It’s this kind of application that’s just fun to get into because the material presented is not only easy to digest, it’s so incredibly well done that you can’t help but keep coming back for more - even if you’ve seen everything there is to see.
The application itself is incredibly simple. Being nothing more than a combination of videos and instructions bundled together as experiments, one might think there really isn’t much to do. But I was surprised and impressed at the level of detail that was given to this application. So much in fact, that I’m quite surprised the application is being sold so cheap - you’re definitely getting a lot of quality content for only a dollar.
Opening the app reveals a gorgeous start page that features you’re favorite Erlenmeyer flask and beaker full of some purple and yellow substances that I only image is akin to gatorade. While this isn’t important, the blend of colors is really fun to look at. If you include the clipboard menu at the right side of the screen, the custom UI earns a spot as a MacStories favorite.
Tapping on a subject, such as Glowing Water or Magical Mix, slides the clipboard off the screen to reveal even more gorgeous UI elements. The subject topic fades into existence, and the instructions for performing that experiment shift onto the screen. Little visual touches like this always make me smile. Asides from the visual effects, the app is incredibly intuitive to use - you’re never left wondering where to find something, and information is pleasantly displayed in easy to read panels that are cinch to scroll through.
Each subject, or experiment, provides you with the tools necessary to not only complete the experiment, but enrich yourself with information on just why it works. You get access to a materials list, instructions, safety precautions, how it works information, and a video demoing the experiment. There is a lot of attention paid to each and every one of these things - if you attempt an experiment, you’re never left wondering what to do next and you never ask yourself, “Did I miss a step?” Everything is incredibly easy to understand, perfect for guys like me who don’t want to sit around trying to interpret instructions.
While the instructions are incredibly well done, the videos left the biggest impression on me. Even if you don’t do the experiments, I’d say the videos alone are worth the price of admission. If you’ve ever watched Bill Nye as a kid, or Mythbusters today, I’m not kidding when I say these videos are on par with quality science television. You get to see real people doing these things in a professional format. At the same time, a lot of these videos are under five minutes long, which is perfect because they were able to be captivating in nice short tootsie-roll sized pieces.
If you’re looking to get your geek on, strap on your safety glasses and get the plastic gloves out, because there are quite a few activities for you to try. Teachers looking for an activity to share with their class might find this application to be a must have, because most of the experiments, with adult supervision of course, are definitely do-able by kids in middle school and up. Even if you’re not a student or a teacher, these things are still fun to try on your own or with friends, and I myself tried a couple of them since I had the materials already on hand. The experiments are not big elaborated things - they’re often short, require minimal materials, and teach you something that you’d otherwise not discover on your own.
If I can talk so highly about a science app (even when I’m not a fan of science!), it must be good. And trust me, this application is really cool. EXPERIMENTER by Cramzy is only $.99 in the App Store [iTunes Link], so go try it out if you’re looking for something different and educational. Hopefully you’ll have just as much fun as I did not only watching the videos, but even doing some of the experiments. It’s quite impressive!
