Prezi for iPad App Review

Lo and behold, just as I was about to make some edits on an existing Prezi for an upcoming presentation, I find an announcement for a free Prezi app on the iPad along with a "win a free iPad" contest on their website. If there was a web 2.0 tool that was just destined to become an iPad app, I would say Prezi is it. With its zooming presentation format and the drag, zoom, and slide interface, the multi-touch capabilities of the iPad seem to lend themselves perfectly to a well designed application. Let's see what the Prezi folks have created, shall we?

Upon opening the app, there's a simple login welcome message and a demonstration Prezi for those unfamiliar with the tool. No additional account information is needed as the app pulls up your Prezis in no time once you log in with the same credentials you use on the full web site. Once logged in, your current Prezis, their last updated date, and their size are all listed on screen. Tapping on a Prezi prepares the presentation by downloading all media associated with it from the web. This can take a few seconds or upwards to a minute or more depending on the size of your Prezi. It is worth noting that an Internet connection is needed to view any of your Prezis, as even ones that were previously downloaded did not seem to have a cached version available.


Once in the presentation, I couldn't help but notice that things just weren't quite the same as in the web version. As mentioned in some early app store reviews, text and images often seemed a bit out of place, some of my videos were not available, and crashes were observed during several of my early tests. On a more positive note, the app takes a noteworthy first step towards taking an innovative web 2.0 tool and creating a serviceable iPad app without altering the interface. As one would hope, zooming, sliding, and using multi-touch gestures to explore a Prezi on the iPad made for an enjoyable experience, and if developers continue to work at improving Prezi's iPad version, the app would make for a fine accompaniment to the full web tool.

Thus, the question might be whether the developers will have enough incentives to improve the app, and who might benefit the most from a quality iPad Prezi app anyways? If editing were enabled, I could see many users exploring the app more regularly, but as it stands, a view only version only entices me to review my existing Prezis or reminisce on older presentations. I still maintain that Prezi is a great alternative to PowerPoint, and I also believe that it can be a transformative tool in aiding brainstorming and presentation planning. Should more features were incorporated into the iPad Prezi app, you could argue for the Prezi's addition to the list of must-have apps for any iPad classroom initiative.

Prezi for the iPad is available for free in the App Store.

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