There are plenty of third-party applications out there that attempt to aid in the collecting, logging, and presenting of physical media collections. I’ve tried out quite a few of these apps over the years, but I’ve never quite been satisfied with their user interface designs and their general user experience flows.
Enter Cibby: an all-new iPhone app with remarkable attention to detail. Cibby is designed around a bookshelf motif, as opposed to simply being a bland database center. Created for logging and viewing your collection of video games from across all hardware generations, Cibby genuinely stands out from the crowd – here’s how.
Cibby hits all the right software notes
An application worth celebrating
Right off the bat, it’s evident that a lot of attention has gone into making Cibby a thoughtful experience. The app’s interface is fast and fluid, with lovely animations and sound effects present throughout. I particularly love the background music that plays whenever adjusting the shelf’s look and feel, as well as the subtle clicks that play when switching between tabs.
Cibby is crowdsourced in the sense that it relies on users to scan video game boxes into its database, after which they can be imported by all users. The app’s main Collection tab is a highly customizable bookshelf that displays all your imported games, with options to tweak grid size, background design, and presented on-screen information.
There’s a dedicated Discover tab that surfaces both new and old video games, with descriptions, artwork, music of the day, a Daily Quiz, a list of games released on the day in question, and more. As a hub for learning about games from both the past and the present, the Discover section hits the nail on the head.
…it’s evident that a lot of attention has gone into making Cibby a thoughtful experience.
Actually scanning a video game into Cibby is effortless once you’ve granted the necessary camera access permission, but, by default, you’re limited to a total of ten games on your bookshelf with the free version of the app. Cibby Pro can be purchased either via a single lifetime access fee, or via either monthly or yearly recurring subscription fees.
Cibby Pro also unlocks access to unlimited Wishlist entries, which is great for keeping track of releases you plan on picking up in the future. When tapping on a wishlist entry (or on any entry in your main library) you’re greeted with a game story synopsis, release details, reviews and ratings, links to music, market prices, and even ‘did you know’ fact cards.
Perhaps my favorite part of Cibby is the interactive 3D box art models that appear within each game entry. These models can be rotated via the touch screen, while also responding to movement using your iPhone’s accelerometer/gyroscope sensors. It’s yet another nice touch to an already pleasant software experience.
Cibby has so much potential
I’d love to see the application expand its scope
Needless to say, I’m a big fan of Cibby, even if I’ve only been using it for a couple of days to this point. The app is living proof that it’s possible to craft a remarkably coherent app experience on the iPhone in the Liquid Glass era, while carving out a unique visual identity all the same.
Personally, I’d love to see Cibby expand its scope to include all other forms of physical media, whether it be movies, TV shows, music albums, books, or otherwise. The app’s interface and usage flow are so stellar, that I can’t help but want to import all my physical media collections into its database.
…Cibby is the ideal companion tool for gamers with an iPhone.
I’d also love to see the application extend support to the iPad at a native level. Viewing my collection on a tablet-sized screen would be a dream, especially if the developer were to optimize the user interface to support multiple columns and the like.
In its current incarnation, Cibby is the ideal companion tool for gamers with an iPhone. The app has immediately earned a spot on my handset’s home screen, where I access it on a regular basis. I simply can’t get enough of the app’s overall craft, and it makes viewing both my wishlist and my current games collection an absolute delight.
