Harmonious Review
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Harmonious Review

Our Review by Bonnie Eisenman on May 4th, 2010
Rating: starstarstarhalfstarblankstar :: FUN NOVELTY
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Harmonious is a nifty smart-sketch app. It can produce some neat results, but its unpredictability and mediocre interface confine it to novelty status.

Developer: The Angry Robot Zombie Factory
Price: $0.99
Version Reviewed: 1.2

iPhone Integration Rating: starstarstarhalfstarblankstar
User Interface Rating: starstarstarblankstarblankstar

Re-use / Replay Value Rating: starstarstarhalfstarblankstar

Overall Rating: starstarstarhalfstarblankstar

Harmonious is a "smart sketchpad" application for both the iPhone and iPad. It uses procedural drawing techniques to transform your simple strokes into more complex "works of art." But while it's possible to create a masterpiece doodle in Harmonious, don't expect it to be easy. This is still more of a novelty than a magic wand.

Drawing in Harmonious is simple—draw a line, and the app will work its magic. There are eleven different brushes, and which brush you use determines what happens next. The "sketchy" brush will fill in some sketchy lines; the "circles" brush will create a circle; the "simple" brush just draws a plain line. Some brushes are even more complex, like the sluggish "ribbon" brush. The usual result is a combination of the app's smart-sketching and your own intentions. It's hard to predict what will happen, rendering the app's magic a little annoying at times.

You can also change your brush's color and size; use the eyedropper to grab a previously used color; and hit the Undo button if you mess up. The app lets you save your drawings or upload them to the Harmonious gallery. However, other features are absent: for example, you can't zoom in for greater precision.

Harmonious' interface isn't exactly a seamless learning curve, and you'll have to experiment to uncover certain techniques. In some cases, you just have to accept annoying interface factors—not being able to determine brush size until you actually try to draw, for example. But tinkering with the app is fun. The results are often unpredictable, and range from bad to beautiful. This is Harmonious' entire draw: you can make really cool stuff, as well as a bunch of random nonsense.

Though gimmicky, Harmonius excels at pleasing the tinkerers and doodlers, and it makes a good novelty app. I just wish that the interface was better, and that it was easier to draw what you wanted, rather than what the app thinks you want. But if you want a toy sketch app, it's certainly a lot of fun!

If you're curious about what Harmonious can do, check out the website.

iPhone Screenshots

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iPad Screenshots

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