When I was young a shop close to my house sold Kaleidoscopes. It was with wonder that I spent hours holding one to my eye and turning it to produce a variety of shapes, patterns and colours which you could say were the Pixar animation equivalent for children born in the 1970’s. I really, really wanted one for Christmas, but alas it did not arrive and I had to make do with something else that did not live as long in my memory as the humble Kaleidoscope that continued to fill my mind.
This Christmas is different though because TumbleVision HD has arrived for the iPad and I am once again staring into a myriad of colours and swimming shapes which enchant me as much today as they did all of those years ago. It simulates a Kaleidoscope almost perfectly and comes with a range of patterns built in for you to start playing with. You can speed up the animation or slow it down and also stop it whenever you want to using the three large buttons at the top. Over to the left is a button to hide or show the background, of which I prefer to hide it to let the show shine through and over to the right is a settings icon which lets you mute the sound or buy extra packs of designs.
There are 5 packs which each contain 3 designs; you can buy each pack for £1.19 or buy individual designs for £0.59 each which gives you more than enough options to experiment with. Besides using the buttons to move the animations, you can also use your finger in a more natural way to spin them around and once it is revolving at the speed you want, you can leave it propped up on your coffee table to create a unique and interesting centre piece. Stick some music on in the background, hide the surround and it also becomes an innovative visual show to compliment whatever music you are playing.
This app does not astound with its complexity and that is ultimately why it is so lovely. You pay nothing for the first 3 packs and it just works as it should, and crucially recreates the Kaleidoscope feeling perfectly. On top of that you get to watch some special images within each Kaleidoscope- the first one includes floating angels, the next one butterflies and the third mosaic patterns. The paid-for designs include all sorts of themes that will keep you coming back for more, to concentrate on or to just enjoy.
TumbleVision HD is beautifully designed, is a treat to set up and use and is much more than a mere novelty. I truly am I child again and this is a nice early Christmas present for me. HIGHLY recommended.
Available for free from the App Store.
Thanks for the review. Very cool and a lot of fun. A definite time killer
Bob