Holy free app! Robin could be an Android packin' driver's best friend

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Holy free app! Robin could be an Android packin' driver's best friend
Tucked away inside Google Play Store is a free app called Robin that could easily be mistaken as another Siri knock-off. The difference, though, is that Robin isn't supposed to be Siri, at least not yet. Designed for drivers, Robin is limited to navigation, real-time traffic, finding parking or the nearest (and cheapest) gas station, weather, telling jokes, reading Yelp reviews and there also is some Twitter integration. Because it is in beta, the app does misfire every now and then and forces you to repeat your request. We asked Robin to find the nearest gas station and it said that there were none nearby even though a Mobil station is less than a mile away. We saw nothing at all resembling the smooth running app shown on the official video. The developer, Palo Alto based Magnifis, says that Robin is a "student" and is not yet perfect.

According to the developer, Robin is supposed to be like KITT from Knight Rider as it will eventually be able to learn the driver's usual driving patterns and proactively report on traffic, navigation and speed traps. Robin will even learn the user's preferences in jokes and news as this functionality is added. Just keep in mind that this is not Siri or even S Voice for that matter. In fact, don't even try to ask Robin to do some of the things that Siri does. For example, we asked Robin to set an alarm and received a response that it was "pissed" that we asked because it is not yet programmed for such a task.

If Magnifis can work out all of the bugs, and keeps Robin's eye on the road, this could be a nice little gem of an app. On the other hand, if the developer gets caught up in trying to copy Siri, it could end up misunderstood and lost in a sea of Siri copycats. As it is, many reviews at the Google Play Store are negative as users try to compare Robin to Siri. For now, that is a battle that Robin is not going to win.

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source: GooglePlayStore via Phandroid

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