The Chocolate App
by Toni McQuilken
May 10, 2011 11:00 AM –
Install
The Chocolate App. A family tradition since 1919, Philadelphia Candies has been manufacturing the finest in milk and dark chocolates for generations. Browse our fine selection of boxed chocolates, specialty chocolates, and gifts for every occasion on The Chocolate App. Order from your Android device and checkout with PayPal! We ship nationwide. 100% satisfaction is guaranteed on all orders. Visit The Chocolate App seasonally for our unique selection of Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine, Easter and Mother’s Day offerings. Treat yourself or a loved one with a chocolate gift from Philadelphia Candies!
Price: Free
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- Direct ordering of Philadelphia Candies products via PayPal
- Seriously – you can order chocolates for delivery from your phone.
Cons
- A small selection of items in the app for now
- Can only pay via PayPal in-app
- Force closes often
Features:
If you’ve ever wished you could order chocolate from your phone, then this is your app. Philadelphia Candies launched an app that allows you to order a selection of their gourmet chocolates from your Android phone using PayPal.
The app was developed for the company by a group of senior project students in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH. As a first attempt, it’s a pretty solid showing. I had really long load times whenever the app started up, which was more annoying than anything, but I also had quite a bit of force-close issues. When the app works, it’s a beautiful thing – you select your candy, send it to the cart, and checkout. And your candy comes to you. But when it closes, everything in your cart is lost, and has to be put in again. And I had it force closing an average of 5-6 times every time I tried to use it. If they can find and fix the bug causing that, it will be a very solid app that delivers on it’s premise. In future releases, I’d love to see a wider selection, additional payment options for those without PayPal accounts, and maybe even trivia and facts about chocolate.
-
-
Chocolate App Main
-
-
Chocolate App About
-
-
Chocolate App Chocolates
-
-
Chocolate App Specialties
-
-
Chocolate App Other Products
-
-
Chocolate App Purchasing
-
-
Chocolate App Product Description
-
-
Chocolate App Bought
-
-
Chocolate App Cart
Usefulness:
Very useful. If you’re a chocolate lover and want a fast way to order gourmet candies, this is your app. If not… it’s Meh.
Ease of Use:
It’s a little slow loading, and has a lot of force-close issues, but when it works, it’s very easy to navigate. I hope future versions of the app will close up those bugs which do mar the whole experience a bit.
Frequently Used:
This depends on how much candy you eat or send. I could see this as being a huge time saver around holidays or birthdays, and being a very convenient way to treat yourself every now and then.
Interface:
The graphics are a little blurry, showing that they weren’t perfectly optimized, but overall it doesn’t look too bad. It has a nice chocolately feel in the color schemes throughout, and has a very logical progression through each area.