Software: Tea Time! (iPhone)

Monday is Teahouse/Tea Room, Accessory and Brand Review Day!

“Tea Time!” isn’t an altogether bad application, but I can’t say it meets the needs of the tea enthusiast. Though it does come closer than My Tea Timer, it still has some fixing up to do.

iPhone application have been all the rage as of late. I can’t say I have been entirely immune to the effects of application hoarding myself. There’s been a number of new application releases for tea enthusiasts on the iPhone platform. “Tea Time!” by Snappy Touch LLC, is the second tea timer application I’ve had the chance to play with thus far.

The main screen is fairly straight forward. It’s easy to navigate and uncluttered. You’re provided with the option of Black, Green, White, Oolong and Herbal teas. You’re also provided the chance to select a preferred strength between Mild, Medium and Strong as well as whether the tea is bagged or loose.

I would have liked to see Yellow, Pu’erh and Rooibos as well. I know Rooibos would indeed be classified as Herbal… but as they’re becoming increasingly common in the market, I think it warrants inclusion. I would also like to have seen the order the types are listed in go from lightest to darkest which I think is a more natural order to things. Currently it feels more arbitrarily arranged.

While the recommended steeping temperatures seem a bit off to me, my biggest quibble here is the lack of customizable times. While My Tea Timer allowed only customizable times, Tea Time! doesn’t allow for any at all. Both are at opposite extremes and miss the boat on that particular feature.

While these things certainly detract from this main interface, I must say the interface is a step up from other tea timer applications.

There aren’t a whole lot of things to customize with Tea Time! It’s interface is refreshingly simple, but a bit to its detriment in some ways. It is nice to be able to switch between Fahrenheit and Celsius measurement systems for temperature though.