There are a lot of somewhat thin novelty apps for the iPhone that “transform” your iPhone into other things: One puts a cigar on the screen, and lets you ash it with the accelerometer, another shows a lightsaber blade and makes noises as you move the phone around. Official Lava Lamp does the same thing with — wait for it — lava lamps, but with a few extra functions that make it a little more worthwhile.
Lava Lamp splits its functions between two main areas: Creating and customizing a virtual lamp for your phone, and searching through a lava lamp catalogue that has links to lamps you can buy on LavaLamp.com. Neither is extremely deep, but the app is cheap and handy if you’re a lava lamp fan.
In the Virtual Lamp section, there are a lot of options for setting up what you want the phone lamp to look like. You can customize three different areas — the “lava,” the liquid it floats in and the base — and the app has 60 colors to let you really get what you want from each piece. There are also some default lamps that have already been created, and you can alter those or create and save your own. You can also kick them out for your friends to see, using Facebook and Twitter connectivity.
Once you’re done with messing around creating your own lamp — the function is nice, but it won’t keep you busy for long — you can click another tab to see a list of different lava lamps that are available for purchase. The catalogue has many different color and size options, and the app gives access to LavaLamp.com with a single button click, where you can purchase actual lamps, and have them shipped to you.
At just a buck, lava lamp enthusiasts will have a good time with this app, but it’s not really an app for anybody who’s not excited about lava lamps, or intending to shop for them.
