YouTube Smartphone App Review

About

Arguably one of the most definitive web platforms for entertainment, YouTube is a near perfect application that provides access to a plethora of content available on the famed website. While the YouTube mobile website seems sluggish and clunky, the YouTube app provides a fluid and smooth viewing experience, and is loaded with features.

Features

Upon opening the application, users are greeted with a simple home screen, where personalised video suggestions that have been prepared by the App are shown to the user. Users can also navigate from this screen to the search bar, as well as view trending videos, new videos from subscriptions, and see an overview of their account.

The search function can be used to browse YouTube's vast library of online videos, ranging from vlogs, podcasts, trailers, technology reviews, music videos, short-films, video game commentary, online recipes and even complete television episodes and movies (which require a payment to view). These are just a small sample of the wide range of content that YouTube has to entertain its users. In fact, so much content is available and is being added so frequently that it is literally impossible to watch every video on YouTube, as over 300 minutes of content are added every minute (http://fortunelords.com/youtube-statistics/).

Videos can be loaded by tapping on the thumbnails or icons. Depending on your phone and internet speed, as well as the quality of the video uploaded, the videos can be viewed in quality ranging up to 4K (provided your phone supports this screen resolution).

One downside about the app is the amount of ads, however these can be removed if the user is a subscriber of YouTube Red. YouTube Red also allows for videos to continue to be played when the phone screen locks, which is useful for listening to music.

Download Links

iOS users can download YouTube through the iTunes App Store. YouTube comes pre-installed on almost all Android phones, however is also available for download through the Google Play Store.

The Verdict

The YouTube app is without a doubt the most complete YouTube experience one can have on a smartphone. It is loaded with great features that make it on par with the desktop website. The ads are a small price to pay for what is literally an endless supply of entertainment, and for those who wish to skip out on the ads, YouTube Red is an option if you are a heavy consumer of YouTube content.

Rating

★★★★★

Reviewed by Juzan

Charity Miles Smartphone App Review

About

Charity Miles is an US-based fitness tracking app which donates money for every mile that you run, walk or ride your bicycle to a charitable cause on your behalf. Since launching, members have earned over $2 million for over 30 charities that are registered with the app. A few questions have arisen regarding the legitimacy of the app, so allow me to use this review to explain how the app works.

Initially, the developers of Charity Miles created a pool of $1 million to donate to charities as people used the app. Once the pool ran out of money, the developers found corporate sponsors to continue to make donations on behalf of the user. For every mile you run or walk 25 cents will be donated to a charity selected by the user from the list, and 10 cents per mile via bicycle.

Features

There are a few options that are presented to the user for creating an account when launching the app for the first time. You can login through Facebook or you can enter your name and email address. 

Users also have the option to “Quick Start” which allows you to use the app without telling it anything about yourself. However Location Services are needed to be enabled in order for the app to work as it does collect data about where you are.

Before the app starts tracking your progress, you select a charity from a list provided. With charities including The Michael J. Fox Foundation, Autism Speaks and The Leukaemia & Lymphoma Society. The app allows you to choose a different charity for each session you initiate or you can choose to stick with just one.

When you’re ready, you select the activity you’ll be completing, and a new page loads. Charity Miles starts automatically but it’s difficult to tell. Unlike other activity tackers, there is no button or any other indicator that it has begun. A small red button appears at the top right of the screen, but this acts as a finish/pause button which remains visible after pressing. I wish that the app incorporated clear indicators for when it was recording a session and when it was stopped or paused.

As you begin to move, statistics including total miles and speed appear in front of a backdrop image that also acts as an advertisement from the sponsoring company. As you scroll down, more information is presented about the organisation and their goods and/or services. Once finished, you press the previously mentioned red button to complete the activity and the app will show you a summary of how far you traveled and how much was earned for your chosen charity.

There are a few other features such as the ability to join a team or start your own so that you can raise money for charities collectively with friends.

Download Links

Charity is available for free download on the Google Play Store and iTunes App Store.

The Verdict

The Charity Miles app lets anyone earn a little bit of money for a charity of their choice and it can really add up over time. Though it could stand some useability improvements, Charity is an admirable app that is worthy of all the awards it has received.

Reviewed by Ryan

★★★★★

Fitbit Smartphone App Review

About

Given the current prevalence of wearable technology, Fitbits have exploded in popularity. The Fitbit app is a great way to track your activity and health (if paired with a Fitbit tracker). In essence, the tracker device used (be it the Fitbit Flex, Charge, Blaze, etc.) performs the collection of data, and the app presents this data in the form of graphs and charts, and also provides the ability to set goals and log food and water intake.

Features

Step tracking

The app lets you set a goal for the amount of steps you want to take per day. Upon viewing the dashboard, you can see where you stand in relation to your goal for the day. You can also view a chart of your past week, month, quarter of a year, and full year. The app also calculates your averages steps, so you can see if you are becoming more or less active.

Distance tracking

Similarly to step tracking, distance tracking reveals the total distance that you have walked. Goals can also be set, and graphical summaries can also be viewed from within the app.

Activity monitoring

The app also presents information on physical exercise, detecting when you have been moderately active for a minimum of 30 minutes in one session. Unfortunately, this feature is more targeted towards cardio exercise, and those who exercise using weights may not be able to fully reap the benefits of this feature as a result. I found that when playing football, the feature would work properly, however wouldn't recognise that I was exercising whenever I went to the gym.

Sleep tracking

The Fitbit app can also track sleep. It provides graphical summaries about sleep cycles, and provides logs of previous nights to see if your sleeping pattern is changing. Personally, I find it hard to sleep while leaving my tracker on, and so I usually give this feature a miss.

Food logging

The app also allows users to log what foods they have eaten, to display accurate information about calorie intake and burning. I personally do not use this feature as it is too time consuming, and my goal is not to lose weight. However for those who wish to keep track of their calorie intake and want to adjust their exercise pattern accordingly to lose weight, this is a pretty nifty feature. The feature takes into account your current weight, target weight, age and BMI to calculate a calorie budget. Logging your food intake updates your position in relation to your calorie budget, so you can see how you are fairing. Meals bought from establishments (fast food, popular restaurants) can be searched through the app and added in. They are pre-filled with the amount of calories they contain. However for homemade meals, it will mostly require users to fill out details about the meal they are logging, which can be difficult. This is a great tool for those looking to lose weight and monitor their diet, however as previously stated I didn't find this particularly useful for myself.

Exercise tracking

You can also log exercise using the app. This feature, once turned on, will track exactly where you are going and deliver some information about your exercise upon completion. The feature is only for those who run, walk or hike, however, and if these activities are not part of your exercise routine, this faeture may not be too useful for you.

Download Links

Fitbit is available for free on the App Store for iOS devices and the Google Play Store for Android.

The Verdict

The Fitbit app provides some pretty neat features to track your exercise and diet. It integrates these two areas remarkably well, and can be a great companion to your health. That being said, it is not for everybody. Those who exercise in ways other than walking or running will find it hard to accurately track their activity. Features such as food monitoring can also be useful, but may require a lot of time taken out of the day to log all information in, especially if you need to manually add a meal that isn't already part of the database. As such, this app has many great features and a great user experience, however I wouldn't recommend it unless you are big on running or walking as your primary way to exercise.

Score

★★★☆☆

Reviewed by Juzan

My Fitness Pal Smartphone App Review

About

My Fitness Pal developed by UnderArmor is the most popular fitness app in the world with over 80 million users. My Fitness Pal’s database consists of over 6 million foods which allows the user to track their day to day meal to meal diet in a diary. With the ability to set goals dependent on the individual, whether it be weight loss, or muscle gain, the app provides you with food suggestions along with exercise programs to help you successfully achieve those goals.

Features

My Fitness Pal has various features which aim to guide users through the struggles on proper diet in accordance with exercise. The home page of the app offers health articles which are relevant to the goals the individual has set, consisting of diet related articles like recipes and health tips, to exercise articles with routines and programs.

By monitoring food eaten, the diary section of the app allows the user to track their daily calorie intake. Suggestions are then given as to which foods are most appropriate dependent on the meal and progress of the user. Users are able to scan foods using the in app barcode scanner which then automatically tabulates it.

The best form of motivation is seeing positive results, therefore by far the greatest feature of My Fitness Pal, the progress section. Tracking your own progress is one of the greatest incentives to want to succeed, and being able to pair your progress with stand-alone health and fitness devices like the FitBit enables the user to properly monitor development.

Download Link
My Fitness Club is available for download on both iTunes Store and Google Play.

The Verdict
Whether it be losing weight or gaining muscle, My Fitness Pal is catered for all, as no goal is unachievable. The multiple features My Fitness Pal gives the user control over, I think empowers the individual. The ability to track your progress as you train is My Fitness Clubs greatest feature as it successfully helps motivate users to strive toward their goal. 

Reviewed by Jackson
★★★★☆