Word Twiddle

Posted on March 12th, 2009. Written by pete_c.

[ Brought to you by RF Contributor Pete_C ]

Stimulate your creative brain! Word Twiddle boosts your problem solving and creative thinking using random word stimulus. So states the application description, but does it live up to the bold claims? I take this newly released iPhone and iPod touch application from Double Dog Studios for a drive ..

I have to confess to being a little dubious when asked to write this review. I mean, after all, in a world where online thesaurus’ and creativity site tools abound, what could this little iApp do for me? Turns out, I think this is could be pretty useful. The graphics have a pleasant cartoon-y look and feel, and I thought that this suited this slightly tongue-in-cheek application.

Main Screen
The main section of the screen consists of 3 reels of words, in a fruit machine style layout along with changeable category headings above each reel, with a large “Twiddle” button underneath. At the top of the screen are the “Keep” and “Send” buttons, and along the bottom there are options for Twiddle, Keepers, Library and Info.

The application claims to be able to provide buzz words for brainstorming purposes, chosen out of a library of over 50,000 words divided into a vast plethora of categories.

Using Word Twiddle
Use of the app is simplicity itself. Pressing the “Twiddle” button will quickly spin the wheels, and chose a word out of the chosen categories for each wheel. The categories for each wheel can be easily changed with a simple tap of the heading, and range from “Actions” and “Terms”, to “Fun” and “Things”. Full details of the categories can be found on the App Store.

Once the reels have been spun, an individual reel can be locked with a single tap, and the other reels can be spun again. Small + and – buttons to each side of the reels, allow the user to add/remove the number of spin wheels from 1 thru 3. The “Keep” button allows you to favourite a given group of words, and finally the “Send” button drops the words straight into the email application ready to shoot to the recipient of your choice.

In addition to the “Twiddle” (main screen) and “Keeps” (your favourites) buttons along the bottom, is a “Library” option. This allows you to show the current list of stored words and allows you to update the list from Double Dog’s servers. Finally, an “Info” option displays a short how-to, along with app credits.

Overall
I can see this application being useful to people that are writing presentations for a work environment, and also bloggers at a loss to search for word to fit into an article when nothing immediate springs to mind. In some ways, this is far more useful than a thesaurus as it will find words that fit a category, rather than words that have a similar meaning. Students flailing to find a suitable flowery word to pad out that killer thesis/essay will rejoice.

It’s tricky to know how to rate this app, being as it is, a rather niche utility. However, the interface is clean and it does exactly-as-it-says-on-the-tin. I experienced no crashes whilst using it too, which is refreshing in this currently rather buggy iWorld.

Have you installed Word Twiddle on your device? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Current Status: Recommended

Reviewed at: v1.0
Reviewed on Firmware: 2.2.1
Download size: 1.8MB
Released on: 10th March 2009
Retails for: £1.19

Compatible with: iPod touch Gen 1 & 2 / iPhone Classic / iPhone 3G