AMAZING App! – Flow Powered by Amazon Review

I feel so sorry for all the people givin bad reviews for this app, because I wish they could see what they're missing. It's too bad they'll probably delete it and when it gets a fix, they'll never know what they're missing. I am a major bookworm, but I'm on a fixed income. I also really enjoy combing the shelves of my local media/book store for novels, comic books, manga, and other printed media, rather than reading a ton of reviews on line and having an opinion about the book before I've even read it. To me, opening a book is like embarking on a great adventure. Video games and movies, I like reading up on so I can make an informed decision. Music, I base my choices by listening to the radio, using things like last.fm that analyze my musical tastes, etc. But I prefer perusing the stacks with books. I really wish I lived closer to a library. Anyways, the problem with book shopping in a store is cost. But, as we all know, media is usually much cheaper online. However, I'd rather make sure of that while I'm shopping than get home and find out my shop had a good bargain (I live in the country so it's an almost two hour round trip to Hastings and back). So, this sort of app is a HUGE deal to me. However, most of the ones I've found are slow, clunky, don't scan well at ALL, have a hard time identifying books due to the stickers they place over the barcode (and don't have a cover scan), and many don't have a way to look at previous searches so that you can keep note of items that look good and buy them when able. This app is simple, sleek, does what it says, and does it amazingly well. The app is not cluttered with a ton of menu options or buttons. You open it, aim your camera at the barcode or cover of the item and usually within just a few seconds, a little popup menu with the item's details had appeared. I was shocked, even the more obscure books in my home were found easily. The cover scan is incredible and makes the scanning process so much simpler, since I no longer have to worry about whether or not the bookstore covered the barcode with their own sticker. Also, the item will then appear in the small area below the camera screen where previously scanned items are shown and can be easily opened. There is one button that brings up a very simple popup menu with four very simple options, History (of all your scanned items. Which is amazingly well done!), Help, Contact Us, and About. Simple, clean. There's only one thing I would add: the ability to scan photos you've previously taken. I wish it had this, because before I found scanning apps, I used to just snap pictures of whatever I was looking at and would make a mental note to go home and look it up. It'd be nice to import those pictures into Flow so I could store all my note media in one place. However, that is far from necessary and doesn't take away from this app at all. It is an AMAZING app, and it is heads above the competition.
Review by Matdredalia on Flow Powered by Amazon.