This review originally appeared within iLounge’s iOS Gems series within the compilation article, iPhone Gems: Sixteen Zen, Relaxation, and Meditation Apps. Additional details may be found in the original article.
There are a number of applications offering zen garden and pond simulations for the iPhone. In the garden category, the best by far is iZen Garden ($5) by Random Ideas. Every launch of the application brings up a “daily zen” quote from someone famous, and you’re returned to the garden that you’ve created using the game’s simple toolset. Tap twice on the screen and you’re offered a list of stones and shells, different colored sands, different sizes and strengths of rakes, and one of three types of background sound—gentle bells, rolling pond-like “ocean” sounds, or bird chirping nature.
You can rake the sand with your fingers, change the size and placement of stones, and clear the sand with a shake; the stones you place, the rakings you do, and the audio settings are saved when you leave. Simply put, this app is as relaxing and authentic to the real zen garden experience as you can get, iZen Garden’s only real issue is its unusually high price. But for that, it would have received our flat A rating for doing exactly what it was supposed to do. iLounge Rating: A-.
Our Rating
Company and Price
Company: Random Ideas
Website: www.random-ideas.net
Title: iZen Garden
Price: $5
Compatible: iPhones, iPod touches