Tea App Reviews

Ive been using Tea for years and I simply love it. Samuel (for those dont know he is the kind gentleman who has developed this app) has truly put hard work and effort into making Tea great! The encylopedia is a fantastic addition! It is very informative, lovely to browse, and provides helpful brewing tips. The information and work put into this application makes it worth the money. This is much more than a tea timer. The only negatives I can think of are a few bugs Ive come across. I have seen the quantity default to bags when trying to brew which I found odd because I measure my loose tea in grams. I do apologize for not being very clear, but it is hard for me to verbalize the bugs Ive come across. In the end Tea is worth the money. If you have a passion for tea then this is the application to have. Part of the reason why I continue using iOS devices is to use Tea. I would like to end by saying that if you need feedback Samuel can be reached on Twitter (@teaapp) and Facebook (facebook.com/teaapp). He is a very helpful resource! Thank you.

Like the new features in this app, but there is a bug in the inventory/brew routine in v2.01. Only brews tea bags not grams as I have in my inventory. Did a single brew and now tells me I have -21 brews left. Hmmm...

Now it looks great on the iPhone 5! The encyclopedia is loaded with facts and tasting notes about your favorite teas, and the included pictures are stunning. I use this app daily. Couldnt live without it. Fantastic job!

Im not at all happy with the upgrade! The only choice I have now is how many tea BAGS I used in a steeping! I buy tea in bulk, NOT bags. Why did you change this?

Sadly disappointed. App, especially the tea encyclopedia, is very weak. I expected something more authoritative.

I would add lots more teas to the encyclopedia. I wished to see jasmine and Da Hong Pao and didnt see either. :( Maybe a filter for the encyclopedia if you add more teas. Something that will sort them by category (white...puerh...green...etc). But definitely keep updating this app. I did not use it until 2.0. Thank you for a wonderful app!

Ive used this app for several years and would have rated it 5 stars, but the newest update broke it. Now the only quantity is "bag" rather than grams. Any true tea snob would only use loose-leaf tea. I also cant go back and change the rating in the history tab any more. I usually dont have the app open when Im drinking my tea. I want to be able to come back later and input my ratings. PLEASE fix these things!

Timer doesnt match the theme of the app or the experience of brewing tea. Maybe change it to an analog or antique clock.

I have one significant gripe with this app: It lacks the ability to "archive" a tea from your collection when you run out of it. That is, if youre using the inventory tracking feature, the tea stays in your list even when youve used all of it up (and, in fact, the quantity will keep going negative if you keep brewing it!). You can delete the tea from your collection, but this also deletes all your history of brewing with that tea. I purchased this app because I wanted it to help me track my tea collection, but without an archive feature its pretty close to useless for that.

This app is a mixed bag, and it has been since Ive started using it. Some minor updates would change this rating to a five. What I like: - Inventory control is not mandatory (!!!) - Photo integration - quick and reactive interface (although, see below for qualification) - great for tea enthusiasts who want to journal their tea enjoyment What I dont like: - The instagram button doesnt actually do anything - Data on the general type of tea can be input (black, green, etc) but doesnt show up on the entry once it is input - No apparent way to sort your teas in the general tea list - No link to email/contact the developer from within the app - No sharing to tumblr (!!!) - some misleading icons (for instance in the "history" there is a down facing carrot which should imply a drop down menu, but instead is the means by which an entry is deleted - UI when looking at list of teas is unclear, unlabled - Use of outdated pop-up confirmation dialogue. - the brew entries count for each specific tea counts every entry for every tea Summary: If you need an app to journal your tea, this is the app for you, but it has some room to improve in my opinion. Some work needs to be done under the hood. Wish list: - export and/or back up of the data, say with Dropbox integration would be nice, worth a 99 cent in-app purchase.

I can tell a lot of work went into the design of this app. The encyclopedia is a great way to discover new teas to try. That alone would be worth the price.

Im using this far more than I ever thought I would! Great for managing loose samples and bulk teas alike. Im using this chiefly as a way to keep track of my massive inventory, and its making me realize how much more quickly I rotate through teas than I would have suspected. That said, it would probably help this function to have an easier interface for subtracting quantities without going through the brew screens (can be a hassle when a full kilogram is used in a single weekend or if tea is given as gifts), though adding to stock is very easy. [2.0 UPDATE: Much easier to toggle since original review - there was a temporary glitch where teas would only be brewed as bags, but it was quickly fixed] I like the teaware volume logging idea another reviewer mentioned, though in small wares (like tiny gaiwans, Yixing pots, or Sand Clay pots) leaf quantity can lead to significant irregular displacement. Would be cool to incorporate, though, and pictures could be added when the online portion is ready. Maybe the ability to save and apply presets will save the effort of typing in remembered values of mass, volume, etc. [2.0 UPDATE: This has now been incorporated, it is simple to augment the ratio for water displacement, and you can actually cycle through and easily edit your collection! The new "next time" feature also helps in this regard. It is a little too easy to accidentally delete a teapot when expanding it, though - an "Are you sure?" prompt would be useful.] A scroll bar to help in editing reviews or a finger-slide scroll in the text box area would be very nice. [2.0 UPDATE: Now added and works well in the new tasting notes history log, which I used to never use but Im now going through really frequently!] Overall, much better than I could have hoped for in an initial release. Perhaps a red outline box around suggested values on the brew screen will help in returning from parameter deviations as well as highlight that the brew screen is more than just a timer. Cant wait for the online tie-in down the line! [2.0 UPDATE: Encyclopedia tie in adds a lot of content. Calling a little more attention to the search bar in that section may be useful - a reviewer below didnt see a tea that is in the app (Da Hong Pao) when he/she would have found the group it is in an entry with if typing in the search field, which rapidly cycles through search tags and sorts the entries for possible matches, even if just partial in nature. More future additions I hope for are support for comparative tasting, being able to hop from the encyclopedia to brewing by tapping the suggested brewing window, and the archiving ability other reviewers have suggested. Additions to the encyclopedia section are coming, but as for increased features of the actual entries, I look forward to the addition of suggested similar tea types, the ability to send a notice via multiple means like an email or Facebook post instead of just a reminder in the To Do list app, a way to expand the name of the tea group in question to see common types/aliases, the ability to sort by tea type or click on the type in a page to present like teas, and a quick way to add to the inventory straight from there. Happy with the new update and impressed with how quickly the bugs are being fixed as they are found and reported (though there arent many, so not too many updates have been needed) - keep up the improvements!]

Use this app every day and was looking forward to the long-advertised update. Looks like it has some new features Id like but I wont be able to use it as there is no longer support for an iOS lower than 6.

Ive been through more tea apps than one can shake a stick (or tea pick) at. This ones the best of the lot...which is why so many users expect even more from it. Mine has 20+ teas entered, with fairly detailed notes. The ability to add my specific teapots is a big bonus--no need to memorize how many ccs each holds. A tip I missed: After selecting one of you user-entered pots, adjust the dry tea amount accordingly in the Brew screen, then tap the lock icon in the middle of the needle graphic. Doing so allows the app to adjust the amount of tea up/down according to which teapot you select for each session. Genius idea (that was so subtle I completely missed it). Wish list: A way to sync the app with other devices -and- online. Would be soooo much easier to add a list of new teas if we could do so using a full sized keyboard via a browser-based site. To then sync that info to other devices would be even better...no need to henpeck through teeny tiny "keys" on the phone then repeat the process on the iPad. To Sam and company--thank you, thank you, thank you for all the blood, sweat, tears, and tea that went into this. Definitely the best of whats out there.

I really like the app (1.23 version), and mainly use it for tracking inventory. Sadly, the new version wont install on my old iPod Touch because it requires iOS 6. Thought it might be worth mentioning, because I didnt see this requirement noted in any of the obvious places.

I am loving this app. It makes it simple to keep track of my tea, so I know what I have when I go to the tea shop. I am enjoying taking pictures of my brews, and taking notes, so I know what to do differently next time I brew a up. The encyclopedia is extensive and deep, and I am learning so much about different varieties of tea. The only quibble I have is that the timer itself is not as beautiful as the rest of the app. It would be nice to have the option of an hourglass or a pocket watch type of timer. Other than that, I am thrilled. This is a wonderful tool for any tea aficionado.

I use this app at least once a day, usually more. It has all the features that a serious tea drinker needs, and the new features in version two make the app even more helpful than before. Now it not only remembers and times how you want to steep each infusion but it can be set to implement updated parameters for the next session. The tea ware inventory, with photos, is genius. I have too many pots to remember the volume of tea each holds, I suspect that the app has saved me the purchase price many times over, as well as making tea brewing more relaxing and pleasurable. Sometimes features are hard to find, like adjusting the quantity of tea when you change the size of the pot, but theyre there and worth looking for.

I like being able to catalog all of my teas, but the last updates seem to have broken the search feature. It also doesnt seem to have a settings menu any more.

Excellent interface Easy to use Enhancement requests: - Archive - Reminder to restock - stock overview - photo of your stock - rating - notes

The tone of this review may seem largely negative, but I just wanted to point out some things that could be improved in the new version. Honestly, this is THE BEST TEA RELATED APP YOU CAN GET. Full featured, affordable, easy to navigate user interface- it does everything you need. Almost. So, here come the things Id like to see improved in the next version. - Id like to be able to sort the main list of added teas by categories besides the date I added them. Like Most brewed, highest rated, Color (White -> Black) - If I get longwinded with my tasting notes, the keyboard covers what Im typing and I havent found a way to scroll the text while typing. - Id like to see categories for flavored teas (Flavored Black, Flavored Green), specialized teas (Matcha) and non-herbal Tisanes (Barley Tea) With these things added/fixed, it will really be perfect.