It hadn’t actually occurred to me that Karaoke, such a communal activity, could find a home in the app store. Surprised as I was initially, it actually makes a lot of sense. iOKi Karaoke, along with your iPhone, act as a sort of mobile jukebox so you can play instrumental versions of your favorite songs, and sing along to the words as they scroll across your iPhone screen.
iOKi Karaoke ups the ante and lets you record your performance, which I can only assume would come in handy if you ever needed to blackmail one of the friends whose recording rests on your phone. Unfortunately, you won’t get very far in that blackmail attempt because the recording quality leaves a lot to be desired. You really have to be shouting into your iPhone to get your vocals heard over background music that plays surprisingly loudly after playing so quietly during the initial recording phase.
It is strange, too, that when you’re performing your Karaoke track that the music is barely audible. That leaves singers out on a limb if they’re looking for the melody to carry them through the lyrics. You can adjust the background music volume, but doing so also disables recording. The lack of real customization in the options menu is frustrating.
The song list, too, leaves a bit to be desired. That is, when you download the free app you’re only given two songs to sing, Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” and Madonna’s “Crazy For You.” There is a store attached to the app where you can purchase more songs, encompassing a variety of genres, but this “free” app feels like a bit of a trick when you realize you’ll have to shell out a quite a bit of money to get a decent playlist.
I’ll credit iOKi Karaoke with opening my eyes to the idea that a fun Karaoke app could exist on the iPhone. But it also brought me to the realization that this app leaves a lot to be desired before anyone starts having iPhone Karaoke parties.
