Loading ...
I can remember a time when a sushi bar (literally a bar, no tables) was a niche destination (in my neck of the woods anyway) where the upscale and generally alternative crowd hung out. Nowadays of course, sushi is everywhere, from buffets to food courts to supermarkets and on everyone’s radar; it’s completely ubiquitous. However, despite this dilution into American culture, there has always been the ever-loving faithful who insist on doing sushi right.
Enter Sushipedia from Hussein Khalil. First of all, what this app is not: a list of Americanized sushi which is all rolls, mostly cooked or fried then drowned in soy sauce and wasabi (not saying that isn’t delicious mind you but it would offend the crap out of a real Japanese sushi chef). Thanfkully this is included to some degree (we Americans do love our sushi) but rather the focus here is on bringing you a guide to authentic sushi such as gooey sea urchin (uni), strips of raw fish (sashimi) and even the posionous puffer fish (fugu). The app lets you look for sushi by scanning a full index, by keyword search, by attribute search (raw, cooked etc) and by type (nigiri, temaki etc). Once you find the sushi you’re looking for you can enjoy an informative text description and a very detailed photograph. If you’re feeling brave, you can just tap ‘I’m feeling lucky’ and order whatever the app randomly chooses. A cool thing about the app is it sprinkles lots of interesting sushi lore and knowledge all around, including a ticker at the bottom of the main menu that will tell you cool things like ‘itamae’ is the proper word for a sushi chef and ’sushi’ does not mean fish but instead refers to the traditional vinegared rice often served with it. Clearly a lot of time was put into this app as it’s big on content and personal touches.
On to the gripes then which are all about interface consistency and usability. First, a convention set forth at the onset is the ability to touch and hold any particular button to get help on it. This is quite necessary for those unfamiliar with the terms yet this feature is inconsistent throughout the app and in fact only works on the main menu and contents page. On top of that, touching and holding doesn’t just give you the blurb but whisks you off to that option automatically when all you want to do is read the blurb. Also, some (but inexplicably not all) definitions of categories are contained within the category listing itself which is very unintuitive and really should follow the already-established help convention above. I’d love to see more time spent cleaning up the help system and streamlining the interface in general. Also, if you drill down to say, the sashimi category, you’re presented with authentic names such as amaebi and hirame (along with japanese) which is great but you’d have no idea this is shrimp and flounder until you bring up the full listing. A simple convention of adding a simple english word as well would go a long way to making this app easier for us gringos to use. Not to totally nit-pick but all text should be run through a spell-checker as well. Also, worth noting is this app requires you to have the 2.2.1 iPhone update but I have no idea why. I had no intention of installing 2.2.1 and meant to jump straight to the next release and there are probably others just like me. Anyway I took 1 for the team to get this review out there for you all so you’re welcome! 
As far as suggestions, it might be neat to have an email function within the app so you could send someone a picture or description of a particluar sushi or just to cutely plant a bug in someone’s ear about what you want to do for dinner tonight. Also it would be great to have even more cool sushi info nuggets such as knives a real chef uses, what a ’sushi bar’ in Japan is like and just general info about the traditions and origin of sushi.
So in summary I’d say what’s offered up here will help and educate you about sushi and that’s certainly the point. I’m also compelled to say Sushipedia feels a bit overpriced in its current state but with some polish and shine would definitely rise in value.
Version reviewed – 1.0
-
- Consistent graphic theme throughout
-
- All the ways you can pick your poison (literally if you're a fugu fan)
-
- I found by category to be the most effective search method
-
- Toro toro toro!!!
Loading ...
on Feb 8th, 2009 at 10:09 am
Hello,
Thank you for the review, seeing comments on your work is always pleasing.
Regarding the grips, most notably the lack of a 2.2 version, I apologies for the inconvenience and will make sure I downgrade the app to 2.2.
The same goes for the grips you wrote about (i.e: the consistency regarding the help messages, etc). I hope to have everything fixed in the next few updates.
As mentioned in the app’s description, the content of the next updates will depend on what the users want. I will be adding more sushi, help with the search by adding English keywords as you mentioned as well as add a section regarding general Japanese sushi culture (how to properly eat sushi, more on sushi knives, chefs, etc).
Thanks again for the comments, I hope you enjoyed the application, I’ll be hard at work on the updates.
Sincerly,
HKhalil
Reply
on Feb 8th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
Thanks so much for the sincere comments on the review. This type of user-developer communication is SO important to the platform and I’m thrilled you took the time to post. By all means, email the site when you release a major new version so the review can be updated. In fact I’ll be looking forward to it as I love the concept of your app!
Reply
on Feb 8th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
You’re most certainly welcome.
I tried to submit a new version of the application that was compatible with devices that have firmwares prior to 2.2.1, unfortunately Apple refused to accept it.
Apparently, applications can only be updated with versions that have the same, or a more recent, firmware. Another alternative is to delete the application and go through the whole approval process again, which also involves losing your rank in the store as well as your reviews.
I understand the need for the application to be compatible with devices that have an older firmware, but at the same time I’d hate to lose my reviews. They are often the only things that we, as developers, can count on to increase visibility for our apps. With the thousands of apps out there, visibility is the best thing anyone can ask for. It is easy for any application to go unnoticed, no matter how good it is, unless people are aware of its existence.
I’m at a crossroad, I’ll have to make a decision soon. The sooner I delete the app and go through the approval process again, the better.
I’ll definitely contact you once I have released an update that fixes all the grips you mentioned as well as add new features.
Thanks again for the comments and suggestions you provided, I also think that user-developer communication is primordial.
Have a great day,
HKhalil
P.S: I’m also contemplating lowering the price to 1.99$ until the next update goes live. I think you made a point regarding the Price vs the Content ratio currently available.
Reply
Katherine reply on February 11th, 2009 7:19 am:
I have a question– does this app require wireless connection? I have an iPod touch, and u know wireless isn’t everywhere? I am really interested in this app!
Reply
on Feb 8th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Hey guys, thanks to both of you for putting in the time to have this communication.
Hussein, when you have an update just send it in and it’ll get posted!
Reply
on Feb 11th, 2009 at 7:41 am
Katherine no this is an ‘offline’ app so doesn’t need to actively pull data from anywhere. It’s basically a portable, well…sushipedia.
Reply
Katherine reply on February 11th, 2009 8:53 am:
Awesome, thanks for your speedy response!
Reply
on Feb 11th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Hi Katherine,
As Swain mentionned, this is an offline application.
I hope you’ll enjoy the application, please do not hesitate to post a review when you have the time. I’m currently planning the next updates, and I’d love to hear what needs to be changed / added, etc.
Have a great day all,
HKhalil
P.S: I temporarily dropped the price to 0.99$ for a week, I hope you purchased it after the price drop. Depending on how things go, I might keep it at that price.
Reply
on Feb 14th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Your feedback and apparent dedication to the app has taken me off the fence and have purchased the app. Thanks to the reviewer and the developer. I can’t wait for the update.
Reply
on Feb 14th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
I’m most honored that you have purchased the application, I hope you find it useful and to your liking. Please let me know if there’s anything you disliked.
I have recently received a request by a user asking me to implement a “Share a Sushi” feature. Basically, you take a picture of a sushi, type its description in the application, and send everything to me. The sushi then gets added to the database for the next update.
This, along with the comments posted in this review, make up most of my planned updates for the next few months. I’d love to have more frequent updates, but unfortunately real life slows me down quite a bit.
I also prefer to release major updates instead of numerous smalls ones (just a personal preference, really). Of course, if you, the users, find this unacceptable, I will be willing to offer smaller updates.
Thanks again for purchasing the product, I hope you enjoy using it as much as I had fun making it.
Sincerly,
HKhalil
Reply
on Feb 14th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
P.S : Kudos goes to Swain too for the “Share a Sushi” feature, I guess its a popular request among users
Reply
on Aug 8th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
What happened to Sushipedia??????
I’ve been trying to locate it in the App Store again for purchase, and it’s nowhere to be found…
:^(
Reply
on Aug 8th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
A new version is coming out – Still waiting Apple’s approval:
http://twitter.com/Sushipedia
Reply