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10 clever apps to help you eat healthier

Alexandra Arici
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Eating healthier is probably one of the resolutions you swore you’re going to keep in 2017. Maybe you’ve up on a few pounds after the holiday season or simply you want to reboot your whole life style – and we’re here to give you a helping hand because we know how hard it can be to reinforce a new habit.

If for the past year you’ve indulged in greasy hamburgers and sugary snacks, it’s not going to be super easy to make the transition to eating a balanced diet. Luckily we can use technology to our advantage, so pull out that phone of yours from your pocket. There’s a plethora of mobile apps designed to gently nudge you into keeping your healthy eating goals. And guess what? We’ve already compiled a list for you, so you don’t have to spend time searching.

Fooducate

01 FooducateFooducate – Weight Loss Coach offers more than the name reveals and that’s because it’s more than a simple calorie counter. Its aim is to teach you differentiate between healthy and unhealthy food items. Fooducate will grade grocery products using an A to F grading scale for their healthfulness. All you need to do to see whether an aliment is healthy or not is scan the bar code. The app will also deliver food recommendations based on your current diet.

Surely Fooducate can be converted into a great weight loss companion too, as it doubles as an intake, calorie and exercise tracker. Note that in order to unlock some features of the app, you’ll need to upgrade to Pro subscription (which also removes annoying ads).

Food Additives

02 Food AdditivesAre you trying your best to pick the most healthier products, but you’re at a loss when you try reading their labels? Don’t worry, a lot of people have that problem. The Food Additives app tries to solve this issue, by providing information on most additives found in the food you buy at the supermarket.

Same additives might be harmless, but many aren’t so healthy and even potentially dangerous if you suffer from an acute allergy or health condition. With the Food Additives app you can quickly check whether a particular additive is safe or not. Ingredients are color coded (red is bad, green is safe) and the flags which appear next to them reveal which countries approved it for use.

Tapping on a certain ingredient will open up an informative description, so you can get even more informed about food potential harming factors.

Open Food Facts

05 Open Food FactsFor those who want to go beyond additives, the Open Food Facts app is exactly what they need. Scan the product’s barcode and get info on ingredients and nutrition facts. According to the indications present on the food item’s packaging, users can also receive info related to carbon footprint, recycling instructions, labels (bio, gluten free, vegan, vegetarian, halal, kosher) and traceability information (origins of ingredients). It’s a super helpful app to have around.

Dirty Dozen

03 Dirty Dozenif you’re worried the foods you are eating might be plagued by pesticides, the Dirty Dozen app is for you. And according to the Environmental Working Group, one can lower pesticide intake by avoiding the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables.

03 Dirty Dozen 2This app will show you which fruits and veggies have the most pesticide residues and which you should buy in organic form. It can also deliver great cooking ideas including said ingredients.

Find Me Gluten Free

04 Find Me Gluten Free LogoAre you celiac, gluten sensitive or just on a gluten free diet? If that’s the case, then this app will help you find restaurants, fast foods, bars and cafes which sell gluten free food items. The Find Me Gluten Free app allows you to view menus, call or get directions.

04 Find Me Gluten FreeUsers are encouraged to submit their own reviews of locations in order to help the app become more accurate.

Cookbrite

06 CookbriteNeed new cooking ideas to get you excited about continuing your plan of eating healthy? Cookbrite is a fun little app that will take over for you, when your creative juices aren’t flowing in the kitchen.

Cookbrite can help you set up a shopping lost or it will deliver recipes suggestions based on what you have in your pantry or fridge. Make a dinner plan and stick to it by following the step-by-step recipe instructions which are divided in categories such as Healthy, Comfort or Refreshing.

HelloFresh

07 HelloFreshStill in need of new cooking recipes? HelloFresh is the go to app for those who like to cook using fresh ingredients only. The app aims to help users improve their cooking skills via cooking videos that offer detailed, step-by-step instruction.

What’s more HelloFresh will also do your groceries for you and deliver everything straight to your door. The company has parented up with popular chef, Jamie Oliver who will be in charge of creating fun recipes that customers can choose for their launch boxes.

MakeMyPlate

08 MakeMyPlateMakeMyPlate comes up with an ingenious solution to keep you eating healthy. The app is a visual meal planner which targets the visual aspect of your plate. The idea behind MakeMyPlate is that you’ll be more inclined to eat something if it looks good. The app features three different diet plans which include meal plans you can customize to meet your specific needs.

The app will also help you get your portions right, so you won’t be inclined to “accidentally” add more. MakeMyPlate can also create an automatic grocery list based on your meal plan, but users can provide their own input by configuring it manually.

HealthyOut

09 HealthyOutThere’s always the danger that you’ll go out for dinner one night with a friend and relapse into your old unhealthy eating patterns. But with HealthyOut on your phone, you’ll be able to find the dishes at your local restaurant that match your nutritional preference.

Looking something Mediterranean under 500 calories? HealthyOut will found the dishes that match your exact specifications. Dietary restrictions like Vegetarian, Vegan, Lactose intolerance or Gluten Free are also included.

HealthyOut lets you filter by cuisine, ingredients and type of dish, so you can keep up the good work you have done so far.

Water Drink Reminder

10 Water Drink ReminderYou can’t lead a healthy life style if you don’t drink plenty of fluids. The Water Drink Reminder does exactly that. Reminds you to drink enough water throughout the day. The app syncs weight data with S Health and Google Fit and can send notifications to your smartwatch as well. It’s as simple as it is effective.

Could Chrome OS tablets with Android apps revive the dying tablet market?

Alexandra Arici
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A few days ago we told you that Google just confirmed all Chromebooks coming in 2017 and later will feature Android apps out of the box.

However it seems like the merger between Android and Chrome will be extended beyond laptops and onto tablets. Yes, the tablet ecosystem hasn’t seen much innovation for the past year, so is it possible a Chrome OS running slate might make consumer interested in tablets again?

Pixel_C_6In an interview with The Verge, Google’s Director of Product for Android and Chrome for Education and Enterprise, Rajen Sheth explained Google is putting an emphasis on fine-tuning Chrome OS on touchscreen displays. Which shouldn’t come as a surprise given that most of tomorrow’s Chromebooks will launch with a touchscreen display.

But what he said next might be more of interest. According to him optimizing Chrome OS’ touchscreen experience will “open up the possibility for OEMs to have an even wider variety of form factors. You may expect everything from detachable to tablets based on Chrome OS down the line.” So Google has given its blessing for Chrome OS tablets, now it remains to be seen if manufacturers get the hint. But with the Nexus tablets dead, Google could still take the lead and release a Chrome OS based Pixel C successor in 2017.

Chrome OS and AndroidAnyway, like in the case of Chromebooks, users should expect to see the upcoming Chrome OS tablets come with Android app support.

Which makes us think of Andromeda, Google’s larger initiative consisting of the merging of Chrome features into Android. In 2016  rumors that the OS might soon make it on a Pixel 3 tablet popped up, but we haven’t heard anything related to the matter in a while. It does seem right now that Andromeda and the Chrome OS tablets with Android apps referred to in the interview are two separate projects, or Sheth would have mentioned Andromeda directly.

Chrome OS Tablet Older ConceptTablets used to be a very important part of the Android ecosystem. Not anymore. Phones are getting bigger and more useful, while tablets are getting …well obsolete. And Android OEMs aren’t helping much…Samsung seems to have been given up on the idea and companies like Huawei just keep popping out the occasional tablet from time to time. Nothing mind-blowing, nothing super interesting.

So is it possible that a Chrome OS tablet with Android apps might prevent tablets from dying a slow death? We’ll just have to wait and see.

Be very careful which VPN app you choose

Alexandra Arici
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A recent report unveiled by the Commonwealth Scienific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) this week, revealed that your favorite VPN apps might be spying on you.

For this research, CSIRO investigated more than 283 different Android VPN (which stands for Virtual Private Network) apps and complied the findings in An Analysis of the Privacy and Security Risks of Android VPN Permission-enabled Apps.

The results are quite disconcerting. For starters, 18% of investigated apps were found not to be encrypting traffic after all, while 84% were showed to be leaking user traffic and revealing private information.

VPN Research FindingsMore than that, 2 out of 3 apps use third-party tracking libraries and 38% hide a malware or malvertising presence. Over 80% request access to sensitive info such as private text message conversations.

The conclusion of the research was that while most of the examined apps offer online anonymity to a degree, some apps are deliberately trying to collect personal info that can be sold to third-parties.

Interestingly enough, the investigation also found that less than 1% of VPN app users had any concerns about privacy when using these apps.

Private VPNWhat’s more, 94% of the Ipv6 and DNS leaking apps claim to provide privacy protection in their Google Play Store descriptions, but users’ shouldn’t take their world for it.

So what can you do if you are in need of a VPN app? Professor and Senior Principal Researcher in Online Privacy and Securiy, Dali Kaafar gives us a few tips on the matter.

Kaafar says users should shop around, compare functionality and read lots of app reviews before deciding which app should be installed on their phone. He also advises people to pay more attention to permission requests.

Luckily, the CSIRO notes that before publishing the findings, the Organization got in touch with developers of the targeted apps in order to alert them of vulnerabilities. Some of them actually took steps to fix the issues, while others simply removed the apps from the Play Store.

Blu Vivo XL2 review- What does $150 get you in 2017?

Matt Adams
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American phone manufacturer Blu is back with another budget friendly device to entice those customers looking for a great unlocked option. The Vivo XL2 is the successor to the popular Vivo XL, which was released one year ago in January of 2016. This year Blu has given us an improved model that builds on the strengths of the Vivo XL and takes some chances with its software that will make users either love it or hate it.

Blu Vivo XL2 home screenKey Specs:

  • 5.5″ 720×1280 display (267 PPI)
  • Gorilla Glass 3
  • Quad-core 1.4GHz MediaTek processor
  • 3150mAH battery
  • 3GB of RAM
  • 32GB of Storage
  • 13MP main camera, 8MP front-facing camera
  • Android 6.0
  • 4G LTE, (2/4/7/12/17), 4G HSPA+ (850/1700/1900/2100)

Physical design

There’s very little offensive about the Blu Vivo XL2. The front of the phone looks like pretty much every other device out there right now with small bezels and hardware keys. The hardware keys, however, are hard to pinpoint unless in optimal lighting conditions. I tend to think this is a design choice by Blu, rather than an accident. The keys blend in (silver logos on a gold body) and don’t shift the focus away from the screen. Blu went the opposite route as Samsung’s super bright and in your face hardware keys.

Blu Vivo XL2 buttonsThe bottom of the device houses a microphone and an off-center microUSB port. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen an offset USB port or a microUSB port so I was not expecting either on a phone released in 2017, but here we are. The left side of the device holds the SIM/microSD card hybrid slot. You can use either one SIM and a microSD card or two SIM cards at the same time. Very convenient for frequent travelers. The right side of the device houses the power and volume rocker, and I must say the buttons are pleasingly responsive.

Blu Vivo XL2 volumeI really wish it didn’t need to be pointed out as a feature, but yes, Blu did include a 3.5mm headphone jack on the top of the device. Apple and Motorola have changed expectations for the mobile landscape by leaving out the headphone jack in their 2016 flagships and now I think we’ll see more companies following this worrying trend. Next to the headphone jack is an infrared blaster, which was a nice surprise.

My biggest gripe in the first few days of testing it out is the back of the phone. The slippery plastic rear cover doesn’t look or feel good. It’s a slippery fingerprint magnet that reminds me of phones released in 2013 or 2014. It will hold up well against drops and falls I’m sure, but Blu could have made another choice here while still keeping costs down.

Display

The Vivo XL2 has a 5.5″ 720p display covered by Gorilla Glass 3. At a PPI (pixels-per-inch) of 267, it sits at the low end of recent smartphone releases, even budget devices like the Vivo XL2. Text can get a bit blurry if you’re zoomed in and very close to the device, but for every day viewing it’s fine. It’s by no means going against the best from Samsung or LG, but for a device being sold at a quarter of the price of those devices, you’re going to have to make some sacrifices.

I’m not overly impressed with the peak brightness. Indoors you’re probably fine, but once you step out into a sunny or even a partly sunny day, you’re going to be in trouble. In addition to the low max brightness, the display tends to shift towards a red temperature which is pretty unique, but entirely unwelcome. Whites and blues feel… off while reds, oranges, and yellows feel overexposed. Fortunately, if you care about color shifting, the display doesn’t shift too much when viewed at an angle.

Must like the rest of the device, the display isn’t offensive. It wouldn’t force me to buy another device, but it’s not stunning to look at either. The low resolution of the display will keep battery life reasonable and if you’re just looking at YouTube videos and pictures on social media, the coloring shouldn’t bother you too much.

Software

Blu has made some interesting design choices with the Vivo XL2. While most of the stock Android apps remain and are the defaults (the exception being Opera instead of Chrome), we see some heavy changes in places like the lockscreen.

There are a ton of quick toggles on the left side of the lockscreen that slide out to quickly enter you into things like clickbait articles, a search bar, top stories, a media player, RSS feed, quick settings (like WiFi, audio settings, Bluetooth, a Selfie mode, and flashlight), weather, lockscreen games, and live wallpapers. The slide to unlock button can also be slide one of four ways to open up mail, camera, favorite apps, or go directly to the home screen.

The lockscreen isn’t an unwelcome choice, but it is a far departure from what you’d normally expect from an Android device. The settings app, however, is what you’d expect to see on most devices – but with a fresh coat of paint. Your list of settings are all here and in the places you’d expect. Scrolling through the list setting up the settings on the phone was a comfortable experience.

The Vivo XL2 ships with a “Carefree” launcher that is heavily customized from stock Android. Even core features like quick toggles are different- they’re brought up from a swipe up from the bottom of the display instead of living in the notification panel. The notification panel only houses notifications with no real customization.

Blu Vivo XL2 app drawer
No app drawer leads to a mess

One major feature that is noticeably absent is the app drawer on the Carefree launcher. A quick download of Nova or a launcher of your choice quickly fixes that. I hope OEMs understand that in 2017, removing the app drawer is a really dumb idea. Please, quit it.

I can see what Blu tried to do with its software here. Customizing it to what it believes the younger crowd will want isn’t entirely silly, but I believe that a better strategy would have been to stick with Stock Android and provide a low-cost alternative to the expensive Pixel devices. Nothing Blu did in the software is too much of a selling feature and I feel like it could have put its resources in better areas.

Camera

Blu Vivo XL2 cameraThe Blu Vivo XL2 features a 13MP main camera and an 8MP front-facing camera. The rear camera features phase detection autofocus but I found that it didn’t seem to matter much.

Action shots routinely came out blurry and the action was generally missed by a slower-than-optimal shutter when using HDR mode. The HDR mode was almost a must as pictures regularly came out under exposed in low-light situations. Decently lit scenes led to shots suitable for social media uploading, but not much else.

The main camera is fine for a phone at this price point, but more expensive phones have much better cameras.

Conclusion

Blu has done a lot right here. The Vivo XL2’s solid body and small bezels will blend into the crowd of much more expensive phones. The battery cover on the back of the phone was my most disliked part of the physical design, but honestly, it’s fine. I don’t love it, but it keeps costs down enough for Blu to offer this at a pretty competitive price and it should stand up fine to falls.

We say it all the time, but cheap phones are getting better every day. The Vivo XL2 is another excellent example of that. The phone is more than the sum of its parts because it brings together some good ideas. I’m not in love with the software, but I can see how some would be. It offers some smart ideas that aren’t for me, but increase the functionality of the phone.

The launcher, in my opinion, is a big gamble. It’s the most used part of the software and Blu made some big changes from other phones it has released in recent years. I may sound a bit like a broken record, but I do believe Stock Android offers the simplicity and functionality that should be the standard on phones. Now, don’t get me wrong- I do like some launchers that ship on phones from other OEMs (OnePlus, Samsung, and Sony notably), but I just don’t know if this is the way Blu should go in the future.

The camera is good enough for your everyday Facebook and Instagram pictures, but it’s otherwise a bit of a disappointment. I thought we had come further with camera technology than to have such a disappointing experience in 2017 with a smartphone camera, but maybe Blu can fix it with an update down the road. The camera app that ships with the device is perfectly fine, it’s just the results from the processing of those pictures that leaves a little to be desired.

If you have a kid looking for their first smartphone, a parent looking to upgrade from a flip phone, or you just want a backup then I think this phone is a great choice. It won’t replace anyone’s daily driver if they’ve already had a smartphone, but it’s a great starter phone.

You can grab the Blu Vivo XL2 on Amazon for $149.99 however, when the device launches on January 25th, Blu will knock $50 off, bringing the price to just $99.99 from 11 AM until 5 PM.

Samsung Galaxy S8 cases video leak compares them to the Galaxy S7, Note7

Alexandra Arici
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Samsung’s Galaxy S8 is one of the most anticipated flagship phones expected to arrive in the first part of 2017.

As the Galaxy S8 launch is getting near, we’ve seen the lots and lots Galaxy S8-centric leaks allegedly showing us bits and parts of the upcoming phone. Well today our friends from Mobile Fun have sent us a video which show us a bunch of new cases for the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus.

In the video, the folks at Mobile Fun try to fit the Galaxy S7, S7 sdge and a Galaxy Note7 dummy inside these cases, to show you how similar the upcoming phones will be

The clip reveals that in terms of ports the new cases show cuts outs for an S Pen (maybe, just maybe), microphone and speaker. It’s not the first time we’ve heard the Galaxy S8 might borrow the S Pen from the Note family, although we have to admit it would be a peculiar decision on behalf of Samsung.

Interestingly enough we can’t spot a charging port cutout at the bottom (or on top), which might indicate Samsung is pursuing its wireless charging ambitions with the Galaxy S8. There’s no trace of a headphone jack cutout either, which leads to further confusion on this matter – is Samsung dropping the 3.5mm jack or not? Hard to say at this moment.

Samsung Galaxy S8 RenderIt might be a while before we can confirm which variant is the correct one. According to the most recent rumors, Samsung should unveil the Galaxy S8 on March 29, but customers will have to wait almost a month before being able to grab it, as it now seems the S8 will go on sale around April 21. Meanwhile you can check out the video above and tell us what you think.

Huawei Watch 2 with Android Wear 2.0 and cellular connectivity incoming

Alexandra Arici
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As we previously reported Google is scheduled to officially unveil Android Wear 2.0 on February 9. We also expect LG to launch two new smartwatches, the LG Watch Sport and LG Watch Style during the same date.

Well this week Venture Beat reveals that LG won’t be the only partner sitting at the Android Wear 2.0 table next month. It appears that Huawei is also working on a sequel to its stylish yet expensive Huawei Watch.

According to a person familiar with the company’s plans, we should expect the Huawei Watch 2 to come boasting a sportier vibe compared to the original. The wearable could be 42mm in size and take advantage of a 1.4-inch display, while offering a choice between leather or stainless steel straps.

First-Gen Huawei Watch
First-Gen Huawei Watch

One last important detail we should note is that the Huawei Watch 2 will be offered with cellular connectivity onboard. That means owners will be able to use the wrist bound device as an smartphone alternative with which they can make and receive phone calls. This feature might come in handy when users go out for a run and can’t fit their smartphone into their workout attire.

We’re told the company might show off the Huawei Watch 2 at the Mobile World Congress 2017 next month, although we’ll have to wait and see whether that happens or not.

Huawei Watch Featured
Huawei Watch Featured

Hopefully the new Huawei Watch won’t be priced so high as the original, but with cellular connectivity onboard that’s probably not going to be case.

Apart from LG and Huawei, we expect Tag Heuer to launch a new Android Wear 2.0 smartwatch too – sometime in May. While notable smartwatch makers like Motorola or Samsung are probably going to skip launching any new Android Wear 2.0 this year, Google will have to find support with other device makers.

AT&T Offers “International Day Pass” to keep you connected abroad

Donovan Jeska
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Yesterday, AT&T announced that it’ll be allowing subscribers to use their plans while traveling outside the U.S. – for a nominal fee of $10 per day, per device, that is.

international_day_pass_946x432In its own words:

With AT&T International Day Pass, you can talk and text all you want, and use your data plan in over 100 countries, only paying for the days you use abroad. Instead of being charged per minute, message, or megabyte while traveling, you‘ll pay just $10 a day per device for any 24-hour period you use your device in an International Day Pass country.

If that seems like a steep price, you’re not crazy – it’s kind of ridiculous. If you spend two weeks on vacation outside the US, using your phone will run you $140 – in addition to the cost of your plan you’re already paying.

Let’s compare that to T-Mobile’s international rates real quick: Unlimited text and data in 140 countries, and 20 cents per minute talk. To put that into perspective, You’d be talking for about 50 minutes a day on T-Mobile’s plan to equal that of AT&T’s – to further put that into perspective, that’s roughly the equivalent of a 1500 minute individual plan. If you need more than that, AT&T’s option might be a good one.

That…doesn’t exactly compare favorably, AT&T. Combine that with the recent report that AT&T is hemorrhaging customers like crazy, and it really looks like ol’ Blue is falling behind – rapidly.

Good effort, AT&T. But in my opinion, you’re in trouble.

BlackBerry Mercury expected to launch at Mobile World Congress

Scott Webster
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BlackBerry is expected to bring its next smartphone, the so-called Mercury, to Mobile World Congress next month. According to a tweet from BlackBerry Mobile, the handset should make its debut on February 25. While it has not specifically said so, BlackBerry’s phone would help kick off the annual MWC trade event.

BlackBerry doesn’t manufacture its phones any longer; it has tapped Chinese company TCT to produce the products. Instead, BlackBerry remains a software company who licenses its name.

TCT, who also operates the Alcatel brand, plans to help expand the BlackBerry portfolio. Although it’s similar to what Nokia Mobile and HMD are doing, the two appear to sit on opposite ends of the spectrum. The Nokia 6, currently sold in China, is a low-cost experience whereas the Mercury (final name to be determined) is more of a high-end model.

The BlackBerry Mercury which has been teased in an official clip should arrive with a 4.5-inch touchscreen display alongside a QWERTY keyboard. The phone should take advantage of a Snapdragon 625 working in concert with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internals storage. Other specs might consist of a 3,400 mAh battery and Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box.

First samples from Ulefone Gemini’s dual camera surface

AndroidGuys
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One of the features we expect to see offered in a number of phones in 2017 is the dual-camera setup for the rear. Already some devices are on the market with the enhanced camera setup and more are on the way.

One such phone expected to pack a dual camera is the Ulefone Gemini. As previously discussed, the handset falls somewhere in the lower end of the spectrum with a quad-core 1.5GHz processor, 3GB RAM, 32GB storage, and a 3,250mAh battery. Display size is touted to 5.5-inches with resolution at 1920 x 1080 pixels.

Ahead of the launch of the phone come some alleged samples from the phone. You can be the judge of the quality, but we do see a little of blurring and irregularity in the bokeh effect. Nevertheless, here’s what we might expect from the phone.

To achieve these sort of photos and effects, the Ulefone Gemini employs a 13-megapixel main camera with a 5-megapixel unit to support. The main camera grabs the image itself with the the secondary one achieving the depth of field.

It’s not clear exactly when the phone will go on sale but we’re guessing it’s somewhere around Mobile World Congress. The stage is as big as any and would make for the right time to introduce a new model.

If you’re interested in learning more about the phone, or want to pre-order one, there’s a mini-site on Ulefone’s website dedicated to the Gemini. Sign up and you can receive $70 coupon ($40 off, $30 gift) when it’s available for purchase.

Stereotypo – Life is all about stereotypes and associations (App Review)

AndroidGuys
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A smartphone, a set of keys, and a wallet. What do all these things have in common? They are all the things I take with me when I leave the house. If you could figure that out then Stereotypo, a picture/word puzzle game from imbaLab, would be right up your alley. In the sea of puzzle games that are available on the mobile marketplace, what really makes this one stand out?

Pictures, associations, coins, and cats.
Check. Let’s take a look.

Developer: imbaLab
Price: Free/IAP
Download: Google Play/iOS

All the images are beautifully illustrated as you contemplate the relation between the clue the pictures you can choose from.
Which of these things belong in a park? Well, a lion would certainly make any trip unforgettable.

Graphics & Sounds

The entire game is beautifully illustrated. There are hundreds and hundreds of illustrations all throughout the game that all have a similar, minimalist design. There hasn’t been a time when I was looking at the board of pictures and was left wondering what something was. The whole game has a crisp and clean look to it.

The music throughout the game is fun and groovy. Yes, groovy. The bass line is steady and with each different page you go to, different instruments and sounds are added. There are great sound effects that pop-up every once in a while, from crowds cheering when you solve a puzzle, to the little cats that pop-up when you need a hint. Everything sounds clear and isn’t over-the-top.

Gameplay

The game is broken up into broad categories and in each category are around 20 puzzles to solve. The puzzles start off easy, with only 3 or 4 pictures to choose from. All you need to do is tap the pictures to highlight them. Once everything is highlighted that fits the category, tap the button at the bottom to check your work. If everything is good, you get rewarded with a cool picture based on the puzzle and move on to the next puzzle. The puzzles get harder quick, having well over 20 pictures to choose from for just one puzzle.

If you get stuck there are a bunch of different hints to choose from, such as removing a wrong picture, showing a right picture, or additional text clues. You have to buy these with the coins that you earn from solving puzzles or watching ads. You also have the typical system of buying coins using real money.

Ah, it's great to be rewarded.
Ah, it’s great to be rewarded.

Longevity

At the time of this writing, there are 10 categories available, each with at least 20 puzzles to solve. You can blow through the first category pretty quick, but the ones after that will leave you scratching your head, analyzing and overanalyzing every picture, and asking your friends what you could possibly be missing. When you finally figure out that one puzzle that’s been holding you back, it’s a very satisfying feeling. When you do get stuck, you have a great number of hint options to get you through. You don’t earn coins all that fast, however, so if you really get stuck and aren’t able to figure out a puzzle or two, you might find yourself stuck coinless and looking to in-app purchases to solve your problems.

Conclusion

Stereotypo is a really fun game loaded with great graphics, easy gameplay, and lots of challenging puzzles. If you are good at figuring out what images all fall under certain categories, then you’ll be great at this game. The only downside is how slowly you earn coins and how pricey the hints are if you do get stuck, but apart from that, this game will keep you playing for a long, long time.

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