Strange Deaths – Fortean Times. Check out this Fascinating yet Bizarre app of Memorable departures
by Paul Wilks
Feb 28, 2012 10:15 AM –
Install
Strange Deaths – Fortean Times is a fascinating little app that has only been launched very recently. It details various reported and confirmed deaths from around the world that are either very curious or downright bizarre! If you have a healthy interest in the quirky or macabre this might just be your cup of exotic tea.
Price: ~$1.09
Tested on: HTC Desire HD
Content Rating: Medium Maturity
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- Easy to use!
- Lots of stories!
- Good functionality!
Cons
- For a paid-for app I would expect a better user interface.
Features:
Taken from content on the popular ‘strange phenomena’ site Fortean Times, Strange Deaths is essentially a portal for articles that describe odd or quirky deaths. Now while this automatically might seem very weird and more than a little dark for some, consider just a couple of examples: the performing circus midget who was killed when he accidentally bounced from a trampoline into the jaws of a yawning hippopotamus. Or the poor man who was killed in a Greek restaurant after being hit by a flying lamb chop after an oven exploded. There are hundreds of such ridiculous and intriguing stories contained within the app and I would assume more will be added as time goes on.
The app is very easy to use and it lets you search through quite a number of categories. These include: Clumsy corpses, Evil pets, Twists of fate, Strange Suicides, Religious Dangers, A Big Bang, Joint Exits, A Touch of Magic, Plain Crazy, Bloody Beasts, Pushed Too Far, Unsolved Passings, Look Out!, Karaoke Deaths, Ironic Deaths, Killer Fishes, Off with the Head!, Mass Exits, Dead on the Job, Macabre Murders and Missing Persons. While it’s obviously a little bit creepy in places, it’s both interesting and informative- even providing the sources for such stories.
There’s good functionality here too. You can share stories via Facebook, Twitter or email, star your favourite stories, change the font size and search for particular keywords. It’s nice to see the developers haven’t scrimped here and it makes for a neatly functional app. Obviously the subject matter might be controversial for some but, to quote the app itself, “Death comes to us all, but some people manage to make a more memorable exit than others…”.
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Strange Deaths – Main menu
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Strange Deaths – Typical story view
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Strange Deaths – Options: Home, Font size, Search, Star and sharing
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Strange Deaths – Look out! section
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Strange Deaths – Increased font size
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Strange Deaths – Favourites
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Strange Deaths – About
Usefulness:
I think if this kind of thing fascinates you, or you read the Fortean Times- the magazine where these stories come from, the app is a cool way to read content on the go. It’s a shame there isn’t a Lite version of this or even a proper Fortean Times app with various other sections, it really is just stories of unusual deaths- but here it does its job very well.
Ease of Use:
The app is very simple and navigating is easy. The menu button provides plenty of options and there are appropriately placed and unobtrusive tabs on every screen which make using the app an absolute breeze.
Frequently Used:
The app hold lots of stories so there’s plenty to read through whenever you want. It might be something you dabble in for entertainment value, or sharing with friends from time to time.
Interface:
I was a little disappointed by the user interface. It’s very functional but lacks polish, you have to pay for the app so I’d expect more than what it offers in this regard. There’s nothing wrong per se, and it’s very easy to use plus has plenty of options; just very very basic compared with other apps.
Tags:
Android App,
Android Apps,
AndroidTapp.com App Review,
Deaths,
Fortean Times,
Halloween,
Magazines,
News,
Strange Deaths
Categorised in: Entertainment
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