Crayola ColorStudio HD with iMarker (v 1.0.2)

$30, iPad

Teaches: creativity, art

CTR Rating: 78%

CTR Review

Finger-based coloring apps for the iPad abound, but this is the first designed to work with a special cigar-sized, AA battery-powered stylus. The stylus, called iMarker (made by Griffin Technologies, at http://bit.ly/fl84LO) seems like a good idea, but it feels fat and clumsy, and has a bit of lag to it that can be annoying when faced with the job of filling an entire screen with color, or trying to do a detailed drawing. Testers complained that they had to press down in order to make a mark. Still, they found the idea fun. First, you download the free app, which lets you try three pages with your finger. To unlock the content, you must buy the iMarker ($30, http://www.griffintechnology.com). (Note that the stylus takes one AA battery, which requires finding a smaller than usual screw driver to install -- a bit of a pain.) So your $30 iMarker stylus is also a key. To unlock the app, you follow a zig-zag pattern on the screen with the stylus. Once unlocked, you see three options from the main menu: Make a Coloring Page, Coloring Pages and Free Draw. The coloring pages consist of animated black-line drawings that seem well designed for coloring. As you color, the graphics animate themselves; a cool feature. In an underwater scene for example, the fish might start swimming. You have the option of freezing the action, and toggling on or off background sounds. Content includes five categories, each with six "pages." You can also make your own by choosing a background and dragging and dropping elements onto it. There's a nice selection of colors and standard art tools, although the difference between the pencils and the crayons are not great, and the fill feature is hard to control. So how's the stylus work? "Not bad, but not that good either." The problem is that the rubbery tip of the stylus must be pressed down on the iPad screen in order to make a mark. We tested version 1.0.2 (the second version) and noticed the stylus seemed more responsive. But it wasn't nearly as good as other screen-based drawing experiences. The bottom line? You can buy a lot of paper and very responsive wax crayons for $30.