App Review: Color ID (initial take)

I discovered a new app I'm testing out. It's called Color ID, and is available for free in the Play Store (Android). It looks to be available in the iTunes store, as well. To be fair, as I have no iDevices, I can't vouch for the iTunes version. Everything will be based on the version for Android. I think that the Apple version will be the same, or very similar, based on the interface, but that's speculation.

I've never had any color vision. When I was in kindergarten, I got smiley faces on everything I could learn - and a big Mr Yuk sticker under "knows and recognizes colors". This would later evolve into an occasional sense of fashion which allegedly hurt other folks eyes. Hey, it never bothered me any! 

Over time, I've adjusted (happily, I think) with things that I know (or have been told) can be interchanged indiscriminately. I've also got little compunction with asking folks in stores "What color is this?". This makes a difference as sometimes I need black - not purple - pants, or red may behave differently in the wash than black or brown.

Sometimes, though, asking for help is not possible, practical, or possibly embarrassing. By "possible", I mean that there are times when either no one else is present, or a language barrier exists. By "practical", it could be very time consuming to bring a lot of items - or an employee /customer to the items - or as I found during some sales, different color tags represent different prices. By "embarrassing", I don't mean that it would hurt my pride to ask for help... but rather it's awkward to ask "What color is this?" on an item in a size/style that clearly is not meant for me, and may very well be a gift for the person to whom I'm asking the question.

So, I said to myself "Self, since there seem to be apps for about everything; I wonder if there's one that will tell me what color things are." The answer, it came back to be with the Greengar app as the top hit.  I decided to give this a shot. At first glance, it starts with a 3.8 star review (Play Store, 1/1/2015 5PM Central time)Reviews seem to be skewed toward 5 more than 1. I'm an app-watcher, to some degree. I'm very skeptical of the permissions some apps use, and try to figure out the "why" of them. This one required the camera, and the photo/media files. This makes sense as it uses the camera to focus on the item, and can pause or take pictures of an item. 

How does it function?
So far my testing is on the favorable side. I realize that I've tested it against a back-light from my monitors, or from some fluorescents, which may skew results. I know that with it reading the colors in hex, that there's a lot of potential variance. Something listed as #699606, #6996a6, and #699607 may (or may not) appear very close to some eyes, while being each a unique color, and a slight glare may bring some variance to recognition. The quality of the camera will have an affect, as well. For me, I tried with the Samsung Galaxy S6 which has a pretty good camera.

The results appear to be at least ballpark enough for me to get a good understanding of what I'm looking at. This app gives them to me in something a little beyond "Explain it to me in the original 8 of the crayon box". "Greenish blue" or "light purplish green"are easier on a comprehension than some of the color names out there. Even some of the less obscure names, like these, end up being a pain to sort out at times. So, I like the simplicity of the app here. 

From early experimentation, it appears to be about what I'm looking for. I'm keeping in mind my initial testing is not with the best lighting, perhaps (for the app, not for me). I see that some reviews make note of possible accuracy issues, also. I'm going to have to give it some tests in different lighting situations and see how it compares. But, I do know that with the number of hex combinations of colors, it's easy to get several results for the same thing based on distance of camera, light, camera, phone, fingerprints, glare, etc.

For those who may note I have not linked to the company, but rather to the app-store locations; it's because Greengar folded. The app is still around, however. It seems reasonable to presume that this is the final version of this app, unless it's brought on by the creators' next development venture. I have given some other apps a look and have been less than impressed. For instance, one called Color Detector . This one I found to be similar, and a bit too specific in identification of the colors. This one would require me to figure out "what does that color mean" in addition to "what color is it?". 

I plan on giving this a bit more of a practical experiment down the line; and may post a follow-up review if needed. For now, I find it useful, and worthwhile (plus it's free).

Tweet

Subscribe to receive free email updates: