Ask.com, which refocused its efforts on Q&A back in 2010, is rolling out another mobile application in the Q&A genre today. And no, it’s not that Ask.com Q&A app. It’s another one. The new app is called PollRoll, and, as the name implies, it allows you to quickly create polls on your iPhone, then post them to Facebook and Twitter.
PollRoll is being pitched (of course) as a utility to help SXSW conference goers find the best food truck/panel/party/etc., but that may be selling it a little short. Unlike some of the applications that get hot at South By, you might actually use PollRoll after the conference ends…well, that is, if you’re into taking or posting polls online. Or if you have a few minutes to kill.
The app competes with other mobile polling tools like iPoll, Pollbob, or Wayin, to name just a few of the dozens in the iTunes App Store, but it offers a user interface that’s a bit more appealing thanks its use of images to accompany the text.
Upon first launch, PollRoll shows you a large photo and a randomly displayed poll which you can answer, comment on and then view the results of. There’s also a dashboard of image thumbnails which are used to illustrate the available polls. It makes for a more engaging experience than simply viewing a list of questions.
To get PollRoll going, the database is seeded with around 1,000 polls, many of the “would you rather” variety, which ended up being strangely addictive. (Like that board game, I guess).
Polls within the app are sorted into “New,” “Trending” and “Around Me,” the latter which shows you local polls – that’s the feature that could come in handy during SXSW, if enough people jump on board.
But what makes PollRoll stand out are the social features. You sign into the app using Facebook or Twitter, which allows PollRoll access to your social graph. Then, as you answer polls, you can switch the results view around to see how everyone answered, how just your friends answered, or what those nearby said.
Poll creation is easy, too, if maybe a little basic. The app lets you enter a title, up four responses and a photo you either snap, pull from the camera roll, or grab from the web.
Pretty simple stuff.
Look, I’ll be honest. I probably wouldn’t normally write about a little app that does polling, but after I found myself, five minutes later, emerging from a poll daze and dozens of questions answered, I figured this one might have some appeal. The UI makes it pretty addictive. (Also, you guys: teleportation would be the best super power, not time travel. D’uh.)
You can grab the new app for iPhone (sorry Android people) here.