American History Interactive Timeline app review: a well-designed timeline but not really interactive

Introduction

Good reference apps are hard to find in the App Store, and for the best ones you pay a huge amount. Luckily there are also some apps that are qualitatively good and allow you to try and see what the app is like before dishing out the dough. American History Interactive Timeline by Touchzing Media is one of those apps. The developer first lets you try the app (for an unlimited time) on your iPad but as we’re speaking about a timeline, only the first two discussed eras are available to view. If you are happy with what you see, you can unlock the entire timeline for a mere $4.99, which is not too much for a full interactive report on history, right?

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Interactivity

I really expected this app to be hugely interactive, especially looking at the screenshots on the App Store page, but I got a bit disappointed. The timeline actually looks absolutely stunning with high-quality photos and accompanying text. When you tap on any of the items with a little magnifying glass in it, I expected something awesome to happen, but nothing was less true. The only interactivity this timeline has to offer is that when you tap on an item a bigger text comes up with a slightly larger photo. Color me disappointed, as the name implied something a lot more interesting.

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Content

Having made that point, I would like to focus on something positive as well. The information in the app is clear, accurate and well-laid-out, and the app is extremely easy to use for people of all ages. The first two eras that you get for free are the early years from the discovery of America until the war of Independence, and then from that moment until 1789, when the 12^th state got added to the United States. To view the other chapters you will have to fork out $4.99. This would be well worth it if you want to use this in a classroom, as I can see this could be added value for a history lesson.

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Pros and Cons

Pros

•  A beautiful app
• Accurate and easy to use
• Very detailed
• Amazing photos and pictures

 

Cons

• Where is the interactivity?
• Misleading title in the App Store.

Conclusion

American History Interactive Timelineis a very nice looking app and is perfect for use in classrooms or as a reference to learn about American History. I was secretly hoping this was the history of the entire continent, but regrettably it only describes the history since Columbus discovered the continent. All the information is accurate and detailed, while the app doesn’t make concessions when it comes to the quality of photos. The app misses a beat it when it comes to the interactivity. None is found save for some windows that open with more information. The app is only compatible with iPad, so iPhone users won’t be able to use it.