BEARD app review: what would you look like with a beard?

Introduction

I have a beard. It’s not a very good beard, but it’s growing and I am quite proud of it. Not many people can pull off a beard, and many people try it and find out it’s not for them. Now there is an app where you can try on the world’s greatest beards. BEARD: The Book: The App is a promotional app by Bearded Pony, LLC, designed to promote BEARD: The Book, which is a book about beards. The app allows you to take a photo of yourself or one of your friends and stick on all kinds of amazing beards (and mustaches!).

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How It Works

First you will need to select a template from a long list of facial hair. There are 17 different photos to pick from; however, some of them are limited of use, but more about that later. When you’ve selected a beard or mustache you’re happy with, the face of the actual person will disappear, and your camera will be used to center on the face of the person you want to beard up. When you have taken the photo, you can align it correctly and use all kinds of editing options to give the person in the photo the right skin color to match up with the bearded one.

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Sharing Features and In-App Purchases

As you are now done with your photo, you can share it using Twitter. You can also send the photo as an email or a text message, straight from the app. Lastly you can set the photo as a contact picture, so when you receive a call you will get an amazingly bearded photo on your screen. The big absentee here is Facebook, as it would massively help promote the app and the book. As said before, some of the photos are of limited use. You will need to buy a Beard Pack with extra facial hair options. These Beard Packs will cost you $0.99 each, and at the moment there are two different ones available. 

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Pros and Cons

Pros

• See what you would look like with a beard
• Easy to use
• High-resolution photographs and templates
• It’s great fun

 

Cons

• No Facebook sharing
• Buy additional packs for more beardage

 

Conclusion

BEARD: The Book: The App is a great promotional tool for the actual book. I’m a bit put off that they try to sell you Beard Packs, as this app is to promote the sale of the book, but as the app is well-designed and the results are hilarious, I will let them off on that one. Sharing options are a great addition, though Facebook is missing.

The app is compatible with both iPad and iPhone, though the developer mentions that the experience might be different on each device. The app requires just over 22 MB in size, mainly due to the high-resolution photos.