TapScanner ($1.99)
Version – 1.0
REVIEW – “Check prices and share products with your friends with TapScanner!”
If you’re a regular at AppShouter you’ve probably noticed that I’ve already reviewed several bar scanning apps in the past. So what, you might ask, is different about TapScanner? Well I’m here to tell you that it’s all about the networking! While RedLaser has already established itself as a leader in this category of apps, 
TapScanner is attempting to take that winning formula and add both a new interface and an easy way to interact with some popular social networks!
One of the things that I was impressed with is that the interface of this app is extremely polished for a newly released app. The graphics are all simple and yet at the same time very smooth looking. When you open this app up for the first time you will be asked to register with the TapBase website. Some may see this as an intrusion of privacy but what it’s for is the social aspect of the app, and all 
they ask is for an email address and password.
Once you are registered you’re ready to start scanning things. The main screen that you start at has three buttons along the top of the screen, two buttons in the center and two small buttons in the bottom right corner. To scan a barcode all you have to do is touch the “Scan” button on the right side of the screen. The scanner itself works extremely well. I did not have any trouble whatsoever scanning barcodes as long as they were of the standard type.
If you find the scanner cumbersome or you have an iPod touch and have no camera you can also manually enter barcodes by touching the “Tap” button just to the left of the Scan button. However you choose to enter the barcode, once you have one entered it will quickly search an internet database for that particular bar code and then display the results on the screen. Unfortunately this is one area that this app seems to have difficulty with. I scanned a variety of objects that I had laying 
around the house and many of them did not show up displaying a “ERROR: NOT FOUND” message.
With that said, the company behind this app has not even quite published their website yet so I’m betting that the amount of barcodes that read properly will increase greatly with time. Assuming this is the case, the social features of this app are really quite nice. Not only can you quickly and easily post an item to your 
facebook or twitter, but you can also email it to your friends! This app also keeps a list of all the products that you have shared in any manner on the “Shares” screen of this app. This allows you to quickly and easily review a product repeatedly to different people!
So in summary I’d have to say that this app has absolutely huge potential! The interface, both for browsing products that you have found and for scanning and entering barcodes, is one of the slickest that I have seen in the App Store. If the developer continues to improve its database of items this could in time become the app to beat in this category, and at the very least it is worth an honorable mention for it’s great interface! If you are a social network junkie, and you like to shop, this is an app that you just can’t afford to pass up! So what are you waiting for? Head to the App Store and download TapScanner today!
- David H.
Download Now!
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Developer – TapBase LLC
URL: http://appshopper.com/utilities/tapscanner
© 2010, Davidh. All rights reserved.