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Though we can’t always see them, insects are everywhere around us. Buggy World is an educational app for iPhone and iPad that teaches children about different kinds of insects from around the world.
One of the first things I noticed about Buggy World is that the app is incredibly organized. The main benefit to this is that kids shouldn’t have any problems with finding their way around the app. Buggy World is developed by Gomathy Shankaran.
To use Buggy World, simply tap on the insect category that you want to learn about. From beetles to dangerous bugs, there are eight different sections for kids to explore. Tapping on one of the sections takes kids to a page about an insect that fits that category. Kids can learn about each insect through audio narration and text on the screen.
Another thing I like about Buggy World is that it’s very easy for kids to navigate through each section by using clearly defined previous and next buttons. This way they can quickly move between insects without getting stuck or lost in the app.
Buggy World includes a social bug catalog that allows kids to take photos of bugs and add them to collections. The only downside to this feature is that it requires users to connect the app to Facebook.
This likely won’t be an issue if parents are planning on using Buggy World’s bug collection feature with their own account, but it keeps kids from adding and managing collections on their own.
Personally I think it would be best to make collections a part of the app itself instead of relying on social media. This way kids could create and manage their own book collections without parents having to worry about Facebook integration. Plus, Buggy World would be able to maintain full offline functionality.
Another thing I’d like to point out about Buggy World is that the app does contain links to external sites, but like other apps by the developer, external links are protected by a math equation that must be solved in order to access them. The equations are fairly difficult, so it’s unlikely that young children will be able to solve them on their own.
Overall, Buggy World is a very fun and educational app that aims to teach kids about various insects around the world. It does a pretty good job, but unfortunately I’m not a fan of mandatory Facebook integration in order to use the bug collection feature.
Hopefully this can be changed in a future update so that kids can enjoy this awesome feature without parents having to worry about Facebook.
Buggy World requires iOS 6.0 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
A small fee was paid by the developer for publication of this review
