Pocket Reference review

Humans are inherently curious beings. We are always pushing to discover and reveal, even while acknowledging knowing everything is a likely impossibility. The advent of the Internet has certainly made it easier, especially the sharing and exchange of knowledge. With MEDL Mobile’s Pocket Reference app, you are now that much closer to knowing most things, for here is an app that defines the phrase “information at your fingertips.”

All of Pocket Reference’s information is grouped alphabetically into 50 categories, which is what you’re greeted with upon launch: everything from Acronyms to Zip Codes. Within these 50 categories, you can find in-app links to more than 500 reference, how-to, news-feed, time-waster and information websites. The sheer amount of information is staggering–if you want to expand all the listings under the categories, just hit List All (under the Search bar). Need a definition? Check under Dictionaries. What’s the latest in breaking news? Sift through Current Events. How To Sites show you how to fix, cook, use equipment…the list goes on and on. Even better, over 185 of the sites are mobile-friendly, indicated with an encircled blue M next to its name.

If you find a site or listing you particularly like, you can tap on the plus button at the top right to add it to your Favorites list. Tapping on the Menu bar at the bottom will open it up and allow you to access your Favorites. In the About tab, you can submit an idea as to what links to include in the next update. This options allows for growth of the app; knowledge isn’t stagnant, so there shouldn’t be any reason for this app to be. Unfortunately, Pocket Reference hasn’t been updated in nearly a year, which doesn’t reflect well. In that same year, Apple has released entirely new products with new OS’s, which is perhaps the reason this app is so crash-happy. It happens often enough that getting any real work done is exceedingly difficult. A feature I would like to suggest is one that will allow us to open the links in Safari, instead of leaving them languishing in in-app browsers that do not allow us to move freely. Pocket Reference is a fantastic tool that should rocket straight up to my Top 10 list, but not until the developers catch up to the times. Knowledge does not wait for anyone.

AppSafari Rating: 2.5/5

AppSafari review of Pocket Reference was written by Julie Guan on December 24th, 2010 and categorized under App Store, Reference. Page viewed 3954 times, 2 so far today. Need help on using these apps? Please read the Help Page.