SquibbleBox – draw & chat real-time with friends via this app
by Paul Wilks
Feb 22, 2013 2:18 PM –
Install
SquibbleBox is a new and innovative chat service that allows you to not only send real-time messages to your friends, but also draw, share and collaborate on pictures together. The app lets you use your Facebook log in (or simply via email) and build your SquibbleBox network from existing contacts. The app is free, fun and feels like a whole new way to interact.
Price: Free
Tested on: Nexus 4
Content Rating: Medium Maturity
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- Innovative & Fun!
- Neat drawing tools to utilize!
- Lets you collaborate on images and chat at the same time!
Cons
- Annoying sign up policies.
- No tutorials or help section.
Features:
SquibbleBox is a chat application with a big difference. It allows not only to chat but also to draw pictures for each other or collaborate on images together. It works initially very much like a chat service: WhatsApp, Kik, etc. You have to either register with the service uniquely or log-in using your Facebook credentials. Now, I’m not a fan of giving every app I test access to my Facebook data so I went with the ability to sign up via email. The app insists on 8 or more letters in your password and usernames have to be lowercase. Therefore you’ll most likely begin using Squibblebox with a little bit of a stutter as you navigate through these needlessly fickle policies.
Once you’ve logged into the app, you have to find your way around. Unfortunately, there’s no tutorial or help section to aid your usage of the app. This is a little frustrating as the concept of collaborating on images, sharing creations to the cloud and finding friends is not as intuitive as it could be. Initially, you find yourself having to learn via trial and error.
Now, if you have the patience to log in and then learn how to use the service as a complete newbie, it’s actually pretty damn cool. You essentially have a ‘box’ which works like both a canvas to draw on but also a stream to chat on with friends. You chat via text, but above this part is an area where you can draw/paint/express yourself with a basic creative toolbox. The thing that really brings a smile to your face is the way you can then collaborate with anyone else in your box. They can draw or edit the image and you can essentially work on it together.
Another cool feature is the ability to post your images to a kind of global notice board, a little like Instagram perhaps. People can then comment on or share the images displayed there. You can of course choose to keep the images in your own gallery.
Overall, the app is certainly innovative and fun to use. If you’re a bit of a chat-o-holic, perhaps someone who constantly texts or uses other chat services, this might be a cool thing to try out. I tend to think the app is a little rough around the edges- arguably more of a ‘beta’ app- but it definitely has potential and it will be interesting to see how it improves with future updates.
Watch on Mobile
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SquibbleBox – Globally posted images (1)
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SquibbleBox – Globally posted images (2)
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SquibbleBox – Global
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SquibbleBox – Newsfeed
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SquibbleBox – My creation
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SquibbleBox – Collaborate
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SquibbleBox – Rename image
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SquibbleBox – Upload
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SquibbleBox – Global image comments
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SquibbleBox – Chat
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SquibbleBox – Box stats
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SquibbleBox – User profile
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SquibbleBox – Settings
Usefulness:
The app is fun but I think it might need a little polish and a few extra features for it to wholly replace whatever chat service you might currently subscribe to. That said, maybe there is a more interesting use for SquibbleBox that you might be able to try. With that kind of collaboration ability, it could grow into something far more functional than the novelty it might currently be.
Ease of Use:
Once you get the hang of it, it’s not too bad. But there’s little or no tutorial so you have to be patient to find your way around at first.
Frequently Used:
As I said, I’m not sure if it will replace you current chat service quite yet. This is for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it needs a couple of updates to make it a little more intuitive. Additionally, it needs more and more people to sign up for the app so it becomes social and easy to find your friends on.
This might also be hampered by the fact that when you send an invite email, the links do not work- certainly in my testing between a Nexus 4 and a Galaxy Nexus. Instead the invite receiver had to manually search and find the app themselves in the Google Play Store. It’s little things like this that initially make the service a little niggling to use.
Interface:
The interface is simple but well designed. The drawing tools are quite basic but there is still quite a lot of customisation squeezed in so, if perhaps you are feeling particularly creative, it might also be used as a stand alone drawing app.
Tags:
Android App,
Android Apps,
AndroidTapp.com App Review,
chat,
Collaborate,
Drawing,
Drawing App,
Novelty,
SquibbleBox
Categorised in: Social
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