This week I’m reviewing Coloring Cam. Coloring Cam is an app from the developer Beginner’s Mind, the same people who created Singing Fingers. This app takes the idea of a traditional coloring book and uses the world around you for your palette. Instead of coloring with crayons or colored pencils, users point their phone or tablet’s camera to fill in the blank spaces. In this way, it functions much like a collage.
Screenshot of a rainbow colored in with the Coloring Cam app.
Intended Use: The app is intended for making art.
Target Audience: The app is listed as being appropriate for ages four and up. It is simple enough to navigate that users of this age (and up) should be able to use it easily.
Usability: The interface is primarily graphic. On the home screen, the coloring sheets are organized in groups that are labeled with text. There are also a few sample images as examples in case a user is not able to read/understand the label.
Cost: The app is free. As of this writing, the colors, creatures, food, and cartoons expansions are also available for free.
Technical Requirements: Available for iOS.
Pro’s: The app is simple to use and approachable for people who might be intimidated by drawing-based apps. Users can simply undo an area by tapping it a second time and retaking the photo. Finished works can be exported to the camera roll without a watermark. Since the app doesn’t rely on text-based menus to navigate, it is user-friendly for younger children or people with limited literacy.
Con’s: When users open a category of coloring pages and tap one to color, the icon they tap doesn’t match up with image that shows up on the screen. For example, when you tap the hummingbird picture you get a picture of a sun. This could be frustrating for most users as they have to tap multiple buttons to eventually get the picture they want. Another drawback is that the app doesn’t save completed pieces or works in progress. If the app crashes, your phone turns off, or you accidentally click the back button, you will lose your work. Users will need to screen shot their work or use the download feature to save their artwork to the camera roll.
Is it worth it? Despite its limitations, the app is a fun addition to your digital toolbox. Therapists might consider using this app to teach the rainbow grounding exercise. Briefly, grounding is an activity a person can do if they are feeling anxious/overwhelmed, beginning to dissociate, or begin to have psychiatric symptoms that can help them feel more calm, relaxed, and safe. One of these exercises is to find objects in each color of the rainbow (e.g. red, orange, yellow, etc.). This activity distracts the person from their internal experience and helps them focus on external reality. Therapists could encourage their client to use the app to add images of each color of the rainbow to their image. The cartoon section also has simple prompts which could be used in art therapy for discussing relationships, understanding emotions, practicing social interactions, or exploring automatic thoughts. For example, the therapist and client might illustrate the figures in an image with their own facial expressions and take pictures that represent the topic the figures are discussing.
Outside of the therapy space, this is a fun way to express your creativity. It can be an enjoyable activity for parents and children to do together. Imagine going on a walk and using the app to document the different colors and textures you encountered on your trip. This might also be a way to spend the time during long car, bus, or train trips (e.g. taking pictures out the window).