Price: $2.99 Score: 7.5/10 Category: Entertainment
Instattoo, developed by Amidio, Inc, may rub certain tattoo-philes the wrong way. If you think skin art should be as unique as your personality, you may not be wowed by the designs generated by this iPhone app. You also might not be wowed by the purchase price, either, even with the current 70% discount for a limited time only.
The app store page describes the experience as taking “only a single tap to get a new unique great-looking tattoo,” adding “every design is instantly generated on a random basis in realtime using an advanced AI algorythm [sic].”
One aspect of Instattoo that really delivers on its promises is the control system. Tap the tattoo and move your finger around in order to discover new shapes: the pinch gesture zooms in on the design, a sliding motion tweaks the design like a kaleidoscope, while a tap on the “yin-yang” button generates a fresh design. It’s easy, almost to the point of brainlessness.
The designs you can generate from Instattoo are quite pretty, but definitely seem to be targeted towards the ladies looking for something to decorate the small of their back. Overall, the options are all a bit same-y. If you want more variety, you can make an in-app purchase to expand your style set beyond the 12 that come with the iPhone app on your initial purchase.
Should you find a design you actually want inked onto your skin, you can save the high-res images to your Camera Roll and export them via Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Instagram or email. There’s also an option for printing via AirPrint.
Overall, the iPhone app doesn’t quite live up to its own hype. There’s good news, however. The developers promise 2 new styles will be released every week, with “many cool new features” coming in future updates. While Instattoo may not be worth the investment now, future updates may make this app more appealing and useful.
Instattoo is compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation) and iPad. Requires iOS 5.0 or later.