Paper: Basic and Elegant

Paper. Paper is an object that has been around for thousands upon thousands of years, yet we haven’t been able to find something better than it. Any designer prefers paper and pencil to an LCD screen and a stylus. Is paper the one invention that can’t be improved or perfected upon? Is Paper the one app that aims to solidify their mark by being the most elegant and simple, yet the best? We’ll find out.

Paper is an app that was released by the development crew FiftyThree. They’ve been known for having a eye towards design, and another eye towards usability. All companies should follow this simple criteria of being able to bring forward a well established app as well as making it one that people will be able to enjoy. Paper manages to mash the two together through elegance and grace and it comes off as wonderful. The wondrous part of it is that the app resembles paper and the tools work as the tools would work if used in real life settings. However, it has a few shortcomings that make the app a little less than perfect.

The app itself gives you a choice between very few colors. You have a blueish color, a redish color, an orangeish color, but you have no definite colors aside from black, grey, and white. You can, however, blend colors, but this is not easy to do unless you are using the watercolor tool; all other tools are painfully difficult. It’s possible they could add in a color picker but adding another circle with a rainbow shade in it that when touch lows you to manually pick a color to use. However, people manage to make the best with what they’re given and share it practically everywhere from Facebook, to Tumblr, and even on Twitter.

Another possible fault in the app is rewinding. Some people think that rewinding is horribly difficult to do. However, between me and a few other writers, it’s easy. Simply put, the app tells you to hold down with two fingers and move your fingers in a counter clockwise motion to rewind and clockwise to redo. Not too hard, but not easy for some.

As an app that has put its mark down for being beautifully made, it needs a few UX improvements, but surely, I can see them being added. When you have something great and the majority of users are asking for a few features, it won’t be long before you go back an make sure you add these key features into your app to make it as great as you want it to be and as great as your customers expect it to be.

Paper is available for free on the App Store, but be warned, each additional tool comes with a $1.99 price point.