Cartolina review

Thanks to email and text messaging, letter writing is a dying art. Sadly, this also means the loss of all the wonderful extras, like lovely stationery and beautiful penmanship. Cartolina, however, has decided to rage, rage against the dying of the light by providing a means of sending text messages that are cheaper than sending a physical card, but more reasonably more attractive than your average e-card.

There are 9 different designs to choose from, which isn’t a huge number, but each design is very detailed and professional. There’s definitely a very particular aesthetic at play here, though, so if your taste doesn’t run to the flowery vintage look, you’re probably out of luck. Think elegant French grandmother with a hint of hipster chic; very specific, but if that is your style, these are very pretty and eye-catching designs, all based around an old-fashioned air mail envelope.

To use, it’s as simple as typing up a text message. Just select your design, then tap on the envelope to write your message. There’s not a lot of space, so use your Twitter-voice accordingly. Once you’re done, you can choose whether to send it as an email or a text message (standard data and text messaging rates apply, yadda yadda yadda), and your lucky recipient will be able to enjoy the convenience of an electronic message surrounded by the classy sophistication of an earlier age.

Personally, I’d rather not clutter up my friends’ mailboxes with unnecessary image files, but for a special occasion, these are certainly prettier than the average birthday email. That said, the app is pretty limited in its design options, and a text message, even a pretty one, is still just a text message.

Although I didn’t encounter any problems, there have been some reports that the app is freezing on a small number users, so it may be worth waiting for the next update before taking the plunge. At $2.99, it’s about the same price as a physical card, but it’s a rather high price tag given how few options you have.

Cartolina also sells physical greeting cards, so I would have expected a much lower price tag for the app, with more obvious ads pushing their physical products instead, but if you’re the kind of person who loves to spend out special “Just Because” messages to your friends and family, then this is certainly the more economical option than Hallmark, just recognize that your husband or boyfriend may not share your particular enthusiasm for flowers and birds.

AppSafari Rating: 3/5

AppSafari review of Cartolina was written by Tracy Yonemoto on October 28th, 2010 and categorized under App Store, Art, Email, Social. Page viewed 5736 times, 1 so far today. Need help on using these apps? Please read the Help Page.