GMAC releases GMAT app for iPhone/iPad

Hi all!

GMAC releases iPhone/iPad app "The Official Guide for GMAT Review - 12th Edition".
Finally mobile platform becomes not just an optional prep tool but one of the main GMAT Prep highways!

I got it maybe first (I was the first guy in Game Center) and am still testing... going to write more soon.

First impressions:

Price: $5 (50 questions) + $30 (in-app, 750 questions) = $35 to get all 800 questions
You can buy OG12 for iBook at $24.99/$26.99 (free sample includes the Diagnostic test); a paper book from Amazon - $22; Kindle version - $18.12.

The main benefit: The only source of official questions! (I wish GMAC could license them one day.... )

Questions Exactly the same as in a paper book. There are no additional questions for practice.

Platform: a universal app (iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad). So, you don't need to pay twice for app and in-app purchases but you can't synchronize data between different devices.

iOS: 4.1. It doesn't support 1st gen iPod Touch or iPhone (!), although I haven't found any functionality that requires 4.1... I hope they will change it to 3.1.3

Functionality: pretty basic but there is a new feature - integration with a Game Center. I like the idea but still need to figure out how it works.

THE BEST FIT: If your exam is in a couple of weeks, if you have pretty busy schedule, if you are aiming at lower than 700 score and you are feeling that your current knowledge/background should be enough to get score you need - the app is just perfect for you! The only thing you need for sure is to download free official mock GMAT exams to get familiar with real exam settings and what score you are probably get. Yep, you don't need neither books nor other apps (I can't believe I'm saying that but our apps GMAT Toolkit and GMAT Club are more for 700+ target, and deep and profound work on improving).




I think for many of you it would be interesting to compare the OG12 app and paper book. After a couple of days of playing with the app here are my thoughts:

Pros

+ easy to practice on-the-go
+ instant feedback. You don't need to flip pages back and forth to check answers.
+ Game Center integration. it seems to be like a good idea. But I feel it's not going to be a good prediction of your GMAT percentile. Anyway, it's an additional motivator and I love it.
+ Statistics
+ If you are interesting in only Verbal or in only Quant part of the Official Guide, you don't need to pay for all questions and you can buy 250 Verbal (Quant) questions for $10 through in-app purchasing.

Cons

- higher price ($35 vs. $22 paper vs. $18.12 Kindle vs. $24.99/$26.99 iBooks)
- As an error-log is quite limited. You can't save more than one answer/question; the app doesn't track spent time/question; you can't export history data; .
- iPhone/iPad Touch version doesn't support scratch paper and calculator - it's a big problem for quant questions.
- you can't make notes.
- You can't skip questions.
- only random mode. You can't practice, let's say, only with "Probability" or "Coordinate Geometry" questions if they are your weakest area. You can't solve only hard (or easy) questions. In my practice I used only last 20 questions in PS and DS sections as they were probably 650+ level. I can't do that in the app.
- if you are using or going to use Manhattan GMAT books, think twice before buying the app. Manhattan GMAT links its guides to the Official Guide Review to help you connect theory and practice. For example, you can find references like this: "Pronouns: 12th Edition [OG]: 1, 7, 23, 47, 91, D42" but you won't be able to find those questions in the app.
- integration with GMAT ToolKit is very limited. Using GMAT ToolKit with the paper OG12 allows saving all answers/time, getting advance statistics, search for particular type of questions etc. Moreover, future integration of GMAT ToolKit with Manhattan GMAT Official Guide Companion will give you an easy access to alternative explanations for the OG12 in case if you use the paper book, rather than the app.


As 2 years ago, I think The Official Guide for GMAT Review + 2 free mock official GMAT exams are must-have tools for every GMAT taker. GMAC did a great job in familiarizing with GMAT questions and exam conditions. Now, you have a great option to choose the OG book, e-book or app, just pick what fits the best to your study plan. At the same time, I'd like to point out that GMAC ultimate goal is not to prepare you for but rather to familiarize you with exam.