Look at the mess you've made

If you’ve been looking for the perfect iPhone virus to infect the mobile device of that special someone, then iVirus might be just the app you’ve been seeking. The application, sent over to me and created by Core Information Technology, Inc, attempts to make a royal quagmire of the iPhone’s home screen. While iVirus certainly achieves this goal, the length of time users find the app entertaining (along with the $1.99 price point) just might determine its success.

So fresh and so clean

Getting Started

The first thing that needs to be done is to take a screen shot of your iPhone’s home screen (see photo above). This, of course, stores the image in your Photos App on the device. From there, open the iVirus application and tap the bottom right-hand corner of the screen to bring up and select the “i” icon. After you tap “Select Theme,” you will see 8 premade layouts that come with the app. To be honest, I didn’t find much value in these layouts. I think the enjoyment factor of this app will come from playing with the iPhone’s existing icons. To do this, simply tap “Custom” in the bottom right-hand corner. This takes you to your “Camera Roll” where you can select the screen shot of your iPhone’s home screen. Press “Done” when you’re finished.

Choose Custom to retrieve screenshot of home page

Flick It

Once you’ve returned to your “home screen,” start flicking away. The icons have now become floating tiles that bounce off the “walls” of your iPhone and collide into one another (although icons on the very bottom row remain stationary which I thought was rather odd). To reset the tiles to their original position, just give the phone a good shake.

Bottom row doesn't wish to partake

Options

There are a few minor tweaks you can make to iVirus, although I found a few of them to be a bit confusing or lacking:

• Sound Effects: I’d recommend having it turned off since the only sound made is that of two tiles smacking into one another. Certainly there must be at least one additional sound that can be added to the app.
• Shake to Reset: I thought this was a great way to reset the tiles. A simple shake and you’re back where you began. What I couldn’t understand was how to reset the tiles when I turned this function off.  Seems to me a tile reset button of some kind is needed on-screen.
• Free Float: The tiles either float around the screen or, with this function off, move only as far as your fingers move them.
• Frequency, Gravity, and Fluidity: When Free Float is turned on, these functions determine the manner in which the icons dance around the screen depending on how you flick them and utilize the iPhone’s accelerometer.

Option screen

Conclusion

iVirus is an app that “infects”  your iPhone by distorting the icons. Is it worth $1.99? I personally can’t say I’d spend that kind of money on this app.  While it wa entertaining, I found myself rather bored with it after only a few minutes. Then again, with the success of apps that don’t even reach the limited depths of iVirus, this may be something consumers find appealing.

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