iOS App Review: Geo Walk HD lets kids explore the world, but with limitations

When I first reviewed Geo Walk HD in 2011, my verdict was this: This app is undoubtedly cool, with its interactive globe and world facts, but it is limited. A year and several rounds of app updates later, that verdict can be revised, but only slightly: Geo Walk HD is a little bit cooler, a little less limited, and overall, a better value than it was in 2011.

Let’s start with value. A year ago, you’d have to spend $4 to separately download different versions of Geo Walk to both your iPhone and iPad. Now? Just pay $3, once, and this educational app from Vito Technology can be downloaded to both devices.

Once downloaded, you also get a bit more for your money than in previous versions. Geo Walk HD remains, essentially, a digital version of the old World Book Encyclopedia that used to dot elementary school classrooms. You can spin an interactive digital globe and touch location-based flashcards to learn more about the world, or you can take quizzes about your knowledge of the people, places, and things located in the app.

It still feels as though the amount of information in the app is still pretty limited: There is still only one person mentioned in all of Africa’s history. A new “news” layer—designed to add up-to-date current events to the factoids already in the app—appears to have be updated once in 2011 and then never again. But there are more facts to search here—slightly less than 600, up from around 500 a year ago. And users can buy three different expansion packs, at $1 apiece, to flesh out Geo Walk’s weak sports.

Despite its shortcomings, the app is fun and easy to use. However, Geo Walk is best suited for young children who are just learning to read and who want to explore the world, as anybody else would rather just use a good encyclopedia.