Oasys Mobile, the developers behind the Uno-styled card game app “Oh No!” and Hooters Crazy Eights, just released a new application for the drinker in you: iShot Machine.
Like many other shot/cocktail applications, iShot Machine aims to bring as many recipes as possible to your iPhone, making it easy to find that recipe you’ve drunkenly forgotten, all from within a sleek, slot-machine-like interface. Unfortunately, several of the iShot Machine’s features are plagued by bugs or hampered by an awkward search function. Despite its bugs, iShot Machine delivers a decent recipe count in a clean interface that allows you to store your favorites for quick access.
The Good:
First, iShot Machine has more than 3,000 recipes in the paid version, giving you access to a whole load of shots should you need them. That recipe count is just shots, mind you, so if you’re looking for a full cocktail app, you’ll have to look elsewhere. Granted, some of the shots are repeats, like the ‘Vulcan Mind Meld’ and the ‘Vulcan Mind-Probe,’ but with 3,000 options you shouldn’t have too much trouble finding something new.
I’m also a fan of the ‘Favorites’ feature within the app. This makes it easy to find the shots you like best when you’re a bit intoxicated. It’s easy to remember the recipe for a grape bomb, but some of the more complicated drinks may elude you at the bar. Use the favorites feature to keep them close.
Probably the best feature of iShot Machine is simply the quality of the recipes. I frequently spend my weekends bartending, and since the iPhone came out, I have at least one group of people a weekend using applications like this to find their next drink. Most of them are terrible – proportions are off, mixtures curdle like a Cement Mixer, or the product tastes like piss (when it wasn’t meant to). From the couple hundred shots I’ve looked through so far, most of them look legit, and I’m interested to try a few myself.
Lastly, the controls are clean, with options to view shots in full screen or the smaller slot-machine screen below. It’s easy to favorite and rate shots, and wouldn’t be too much trouble to press the right item, even if you were a little drunk.
The Bad:
iShot Machine’s main feature is randomizing shots by way of a slot-machine interface. Shake your phone or click the “Shake It!” button at the top of the screen to produce a random shot. The problem is, it’s not particularly random. On starting the application, the first shake always produces the ‘Boswandeling,’ shot (which sounds terrible). Next comes the ‘Desi,’ followed by ’18 Till You Die,’ and then ‘Lemon Drop #2.’ This is the order every time. Needless to say, the app is following some sort of list, or the random generator just isn’t properly programmed. Random generation does work within search results, though. For example, searching the word ‘Three’ generates a list of 16 shots. Give your phone a shake and you get a random shot from within those 16, and it’s actually random. I wasn’t able to produce the same results in five tests.
The search function is decent, though it uses a logic I can’t quite grasp. Searching for ‘Lemon Drop,’ for example, yields 5 shots with both words in the title. Search ‘Drop,’ though, and you’ll only get ‘Drop the Hammer on the Turkey.’ The same goes for ‘Three Wise Men.’ That search provides 10 results, but a search for the word ‘Wise’ only produces the ‘Wise Bomb.’ Seems like the engine could benefit from tag related searching, especially for an app designed around drinking. Searching for ‘Wisemen,’ produced no results, and would likely be a common mistake.
The last thing I take issue with is a crash-to-springboard bug I’m able to reproduce at will. Flipping between functions within the app causes the screen to spin on a vertical axis to show the new function, like flipping a playing card. Go back and forth too quickly, and the program crashes. Flipping the card just three times can be enough, which is problematic when drunken fingers attempt to operate the app.
The Diamond in the Rough:
Despite an awkward search function and a not-so-random randomizer, the iShot Machine really shines with its ‘require-exclude’ feature. This is great for finding a shot for themed parties or people with a sensitive gag reflex. Don’t like tequila? Exclude it. Love your gin? Require it. The ‘Shake It!’ function works well within these results and only produced one common shot after ten shakes with some common criteria. You can even get fairly specific, excluding garnishes and mixers to your taste.
The Verdict:
By number and quality, the iShot Machine is a solid cocktail application. If you like to try different shots while you’re at the bar or frequently forget how to make a few, this could be a great app for you. I’d recommend trying out the free version, iShot Machine Lite, to see how much the bugs mentioned will frustrate you. Upgrading to the full version will get you access to the full library of drinks.
Hopefully Oasys Mobile will update iShot Machine within the next month or so. The bugs mentioned are obvious enough to be noticed, and potentially fairly easy to fix. With a few changes to the search function and some improved stability, this would be a great cocktail app. The full version will cost you $1.99.
