REVIEW: Timeline 3D - Make and Present timelines

Timeline 3D - Make and Present timelines by BEEDOCS (iPad only, $14.99 at time of review) Tweet



General Impression:
Media really steals the show in this timeline app! I can see myself using this just as much for my own personal use- slideshows of the kids, presentations about apps etc. as in an educational setting. I really like how I can easily embed videos too, and the 3D effects are really impressive. This app costs significantly more than the other options, but it is so visually appealing and the most flexible choice. This is the one I will be reaching for the most.  See a comparison of Timeline apps HERE:

 

Some Features I Like:

3D Mode

Embed photos and videos, as well as add notes, and URL links to timeline events

Use with AirPlay Mirroring

Searchable tags in edit mode

Allows more flexiblility in input of time units

Adjusts to a variety of languages and time formats









Out of the three "timeline" apps I have tested out, this one is definitely the most feature rich.  Not only can you add photos, you can embed videos, and include links and notes as well.  There are several color themes to pick from (several are pictured above), and this app supports a variety of languages and time formats.  Of course the wow factor is alive and well too- when you swipe your finger along the timeline, the pictures will pop out at you in 3D mode.)

Adding events is easier too- the app accepts a variety of ways to input time "units"- you can be as specific as "1:53:15 PM" or as broad as "2011".  Sometimes you don't remember or know exactly what month or day that photo was from, or you don't feel like divulging that information, so I really appreciate this flexibility.  This flexibility also means I can use this app as a visual aid/tool to help a student with special needs understand events throughout his or her day, as I can break it down to specific times in a day.

There is a tags feature you can use to easily search timelines while in edit mode. I could see this being really helpful for studying, or for finding a particular event in a large timeline.

This app also allows two forms of sharing. You can send a timeline in 2D. You can also share the timeline in 3D format among other users of Timeline 3D, and with users of Mac applications:Timeline 3D for Mac and Easy Timeline. You can also use iTunes file sharing to add and remove files from iTunes.

 

 

 

Wish List:

For an app in this price range, it would be nice to include some simple editing tools like a crop feature, and perhaps various options for fonts/text size/ colors.  If you notice in the image below, there is a pattern along the bottom of the photo inserted... this was a photo taken with the iPad camera of an old snapshot- it would look more polished with a tool to crop out the background of the fabric that the picture was resting on.

 

The recognition of a variety of different time formats is super.  When an event is not entered properly, a pop up will alert you of the error and remind you to use the Formats tab in the Settings Panel to see acceptable formats- I would like this to go a step further and show a pop up of acceptable options to choose from when an error is made.

 

 

REVIEW: TimelineBuilder by Knowledge Quest, Inc.

TimelineBuilder by Knowledge Quest, Inc. (iPad only, $6.99 at time of review)


General Impression:

I was really excited to see this in the app store- at the time I saw it I wasn't aware of any other timeline making app. I have used it for several projects, and am glad to have it, but am also a bit frustrated by it. I feel the interface of the app is making timeline creation harder than it needs to be, although I do think it will be a helpful tool in classrooms.

For a comparison of several Timeline apps, SEE HERE:





Some features I like:

Photos- I love being able to add photos. This makes all the difference. Once a photo is placed, you can easily drag it away or toward the timeline in either direction, so you can fit all photos on the timeline. Resizing a photo is done by simply tapping the image until it is bordered in red, and then dragging it by the right corner to make it larger. 

Backgrounds- There are nine different backgrounds to pick from, to give the timeline a different feel. I would love a transparent background choice to save ink when printing, and would love to be able to use a photo of our own (with ability to control its opacity) as the background.

Share- Send your finished timeline through email! You can also send a list of events and the pictures as well, or even save the event photos to your Photo Album. I love the email feature, as this means I could print out a timeline easily if I choose. If your timeline is long, it will be separated into more than one image.

Search Wikipedia- this is a neat feature! It will open up Wikipedia and use the title you already entered as the search item. Very handy feature- if you enter the name of a historical figure or event, you can then read up on key events for that person or historical moment in time.

Stored Timelines- you can store saved timelines in the app and refer to them easily through the "Open Timeline" tab.

Hide images- with the press of a button you can hide all images in a timeline. This would be really handy to make an activity out of matching pictures with event dates - I wish I could choose "hide pictures" as an option when sharing a timeline, as I could then print it without the pictures, for a child to fill in.

You can email yourself a copy of your timeline too, along with the details: 

 

 

Wish List-

My wish list centers on one main issue, the interface. The settings are very finicky and less intuitive than I would prefer. For example to create a new timeline we have to remember the correct format to enter dates each time. Perhaps each element (month, day, year) could be entered through a picker of some sort, instead of blindly guessing the format. I also want the app to "remember" what was used last time (BCE, BC, AD or CE) and preselect that setting. Also I would like to create a timeline without specifying any of the above- For example a timeline about my life is clearly AD, and I would like to leave that heading off entirely. Also, inexplicably, we have to choose from just stating a year, or stating a month, day and year, but not a month and year by itself (I wanted to create a timeline showing my son was born in December of 2003, without divulging his actual birth date. I settled on putting the year only. When I went to add events within my son's life, I had to make up a date in order to show the month (I don't remember what day in January my son started preschool, so I settled on January 1, 2006, as January 2006 was not an option; for his brother's birth I just put the first day of the month to keep his birthday private.)

For some reason, when I went to enter a photo of my son at Christmas, I could not- the app told me it was outside the range of the current timeline. (The current timeline starts in 2003 and ends in 2012, so I am not sure why December 25, 2012 is not considered within that timeline. To get around this, I had to enter "2012" as the event date.)



One weakness of this app is that it assumes what kind of time units you want to work with. They are all based on years, months, and days- I would like to be able to break it down further and use these timelines to look at different units of time- perhaps I want to show the stages of mitosis? Perhaps I just want to show a student how time has passed for that day in his life, with photos illustrating moments from that one day of his life, to help make the concept of time more concrete.
Although this app is not exactly as flexible as I was hoping for my needs, I think most will still find this app very useful for historical timelines to enrich academic learning.

I do love how easy it is to resize photos, but there should also be a way to choose fonts, colors, and text size for the title, description and each event. I would love to see cropping available as well.

Bottom line, you can make a visually pleasing timeline with this app. This is a good start and one of very few apps for timeline creation that I know of in the app store, so I hope the developer takes heed and makes this app even more user friendly.

Thinking about Time : Timeline Apps

I had been hoping for a timeline app for quite some time when I stumbled over Timeline Builder in the app store.  Shortly after that, I came across two more and became inspired to share them in a post centering around timeline apps.

Timeline Builder by Knowledge Quest, Inc. (iPad only, $6.99 at time of review)




General Impression:
I was really excited to see this in the app store, as there are very few timeline apps out there.  I have used it for several projects, and am glad to have it, but am also a bit frustrated by its interface. The feature that stands out to me as a big plus is the ease and flexibility of adjusting photo size and placement. The Wikipedia search feature is another standout.  I do think this is a useful tool for the classroom and hope to see entering of time units become a bit easier. (SEE FULL REVIEW HERE).



Timeline 3D - Make and Present timelines by BEEDOCS (iPad only, $14.99 at time of review)





General Impression:
Media really steals the show in this timeline app!  I can see myself using this just as much for my own personal use- slide shows of the kids, presentations about apps etc. as in an educational setting.  I really like how I can easily embed videos too, and the 3D effects are really impressive.  This app costs significantly more than the other options, but it is so visually appealing and the most flexible choice.  This is the one I will be reaching for the most. (SEE FULL REVIEW HERE)

QuickMem Perspective by Blackstripes Publishing (iPad only, 99 cents at time of review)





General Impression:
If your main focus in creating historical timelines to view on the iPad, this may fit the bill and the price is certainly appealing. You can add images, links and text, but the images are not displayed directly on the timeline as they are in the other timeline apps; to access them, you have to tap on the colored title. The focus in this app is on the data- you can also refer to notes while presenting to a class (VGA adaptor needed). You can add bookmarks to your timeline, and change the colors of the tabs. A favorite feature is a line you can place showing present time. (SEE FULL REVIEW HERE:)

Review: QuickMem Perspective by BlackStripes Publishing

QuickMem Perspective by Blackstripes Publishing (iPad only, 99 cents at time of review)




General Impression:
If your main focus in creating historical timelines to view on the iPad, this may fit the bill and the price is certainly appealing. You can add images, links and text, but the images are not displayed directly on the timeline as they are in the other timeline apps; to access them, you have to tap on the colored title. The focus in this app is on the data- you can also refer to notes while presenting to a class (VGA adaptor needed).   You can add bookmarks to your timeline, and change the colors of the tabs. A favorite feature is a line you can place showing present time.  See a comparison of Timeline apps HERE:


Some Features I Like:

You can add photos, notes, and internet links to attach to an event.

You can add a vertical line to show where present time begins on the timeline.

Color coded tabs- you can choose from a variety of colors to color code groups of events on your timelines.

Use this for classroom lessons- "teach from embedded notes while students view timeline on projector (requires VGA adaptor) "

This has a zoom feature which allows you to zoom from billions of years down to weeks.

You can add bookmarks to refer back to.

 

 

 

Wish List:

 

I would love to see some basic editing features to make this more flexible. You cannot crop photos, or change the font/text size etc. You cannot set what part of the picture will show when a tab is tapped.  There is, however, a full screen mode you can use access to view each picture.

 

I would love to be able to use this to break down time into hours/minutes, so I can use it to teach the concept of time using examples from a student's day. 

 

There is supposed to be a help link in the settings, but it appears to be broken.