I have stated tons of time before, a developer should never design the app themselves. This seems to be the classic case of design neglect. The app works great for basic tasks but if you look at the screen, and you will be shocked to see a disjointed visual. Jeannie could have been a great virtual assistant app for Android, but its design has kept it back and made it disappointingly mediocre.
The Good
Works fast, and it works well. The voice recognition part works as intended but not in crowded places. The app takes up very few resources and hence is one of the fastest I have tested. The app will be able to perform basic functions well and help you as a daily driver.
The Bad
If you don’t look at the screen while using the app, you will have a great time. The app worked great, but boy oh boy, the interface is an abomination. The main screen can pass off as a virtual assistant, but everything else is just a nightmare to look at. Ask the app about the weather and you will see a horribly pixelated image of a sun stretched to fill the screen. That is perhaps a 20×20 pixel image abused to fill a full HD screen. The rest of the interface is inconsistent as well.
The Bottom Line
I can only recommend Jeannie if you are looking for a light virtual assistant to run on an old Android. The app takes up very little space on the device and runs well even on older versions of Android. It’s small size and speed are the only reason, as far as I can see, to use the app. I really hope the developer takes drastic measures to keep the app up to date and hires a designer to make the interface.
Installation and Boot
Installing the app on your device is extremely easy. Follow the link to the Google Store page and tap on the Install button. The app will start downloading on your preferred device. There is almost no delay in the download as well. The app only requires a few MBs to be downloaded so you should be able to download it using mobile data. After the installation, you can run the app from either the notification tray or the app drawer. The app launches blazingly fast and is immediately ready to be used. There are no welcome screens, though. The app is fairly easy to use, but it would be hard for new users to get accustomed to the extremely minimal interface.
Features
Jeannie comes with a standard set of features which we are accustomed to. You can ask the app do a lot of standard stuff. It is kind of easy to use and works fine with the everyday functions. Want to call someone? You can do that quite easily by telling the app to call the specific person. However, there is nothing extraordinary about the app, and that makes it a bit bland. The app can open stuff for you and even reply to messages. But the poorly designed interface keeps it from truly being great. I would have loved the app more if they just explained the features clearly in a tutorial. Most of the users won’t even know what the app can provide which is sad.
Usage
This Virtual Assistant app for Android worked well on my smartphones. I used the app on the Samsung Galaxy Note III as well as a Sony Xperia Z. Both of them worked remarkably well in the voice recognition department. One caveat I noticed about the app was that it didn’t want to recognize some complicated words. The word chocolate was never registered on the app, no matter how I said it. I even tried a fake British accent to trick the app but failed. Maybe my pronunciation of the word was not that great, or maybe there was a bug. Indoors, Jeannie worked wonderfully when used with an empty mouth. It is not wise to talk to the app while munching down fries. The app, however, struggled to notice me talking on the road. It was not able to register my voice and kept asking me to repeat the questions. This is not a big deal because only a handful apps work well under the onslaught of background noise.
Permissions
As the developer doesn’t update the app frequently and didn’t even respond to my emails, I feel this app is not that secure. You see the evolving world of code and tech allows the hackers and data thieves to devise new methods of exploitations. This is exactly why important software sees a ton of security updates. This app wants to know everything in your smartphone; this part is very understandable. The app will need access to your contacts to make phone calls. But personally, I don’t feel that the app is up to the high standard of security we need from our apps. I have emailed the developers, and I would like to see some clarification before giving this a clean bill of health.
Conclusion
Jeannie is like an abandoned dog that just needs some love and care to return to full health. However, the owner of this dog is not that keen on making it the best and friendliest dog there is. Hence, this little guy bites anyone who wants to touch it. The app would see an exponential increase in users and performance if the developers would try to make the interface better. Until that happens, the app will remain a good, yet a hard to recommend app. What are your likes or dislikes with this or other virtual assistants? If you have any questions or suggestions about this review, feel free to tap a comment down below.
