Considering it’s from a superstore dedicated to projects and improvement, it’s surprising that recently-released The Home Depot iPhone app (free) is already in need of a rehab of its own.
Home Depot’s iPhone app is little more than a dedicated ad reader. The iPhone app constantly asked to use my current location, but I had to manually find my local store. Even after doing so, the weekly ad still defaulted to a zip code on the other side of the country. To change the ad location, you have to type in a different zip code, rather than just using your GPS location, which seems like an amateur move. Ultimately, it didn’t matter what zip code I tried—during my test, the iPhone app was unable to display the ad for any zip code other than 10001.
You can add items found in the weekly ad to an in-app shopping or wish list, which is convenient, but there’s no product search. That means if the product isn’t in the ad, you can’t add it to your list, which makes the feature pretty useless. There’s also no way to check if a product is in stock in your local store, something other retailers have managed to implement in their iPhone apps (Target’s iPhone app even includes aisle information).
The iPhone app’s only benefit is its “Know How” section, which features videos and supply lists for 12 common projects. With a makeover, The Home Depot’s iPhone app could be valuable for DIYers, but until then, it’s a waste of space.
