PMP iPhone Applications?

I received a question from Srini of the pmStudent.com community lately asking about iPhone applications geared towards helping prepare for the PMP exam.

I have absolutely no experience with iPhone apps, I don’t even own a mobile device remotely like an iPhone, Blackberry, etc.  Never have.

I do have a desire to help people though.  So before you spend your hard-earned money, take a look at what I found and the comments section if (hopefully) people relate their own experiences here.

I can recommend 2 products, only because I have personal experience with them.  They are not “iPhone apps” but they work on mobile devices.  They are here and here.  (Note:  My personal experience with these was on a PC, although they work on mobile devices too.  See the info pages for more specifications.)

First Off

My  general guidance is to not  get anything that is geared towards helping you memorize for the exam.  There is one company specifically that seems to be very focused on this.

Whatever you get, my suggestion is to make it something geared towards helping you internalize the PMI standard, not specifically just to pass the exam.  Sure, that’s probably your main goal, but you will get more out of studying for the PMP if you approach it with a “I want to learn this stuff” attitude.

As a bonus, the exam will be relatively easy to pass if you truly understand the standard.  (That’s what it’s supposed to be testing for!)

Also, most of these have just a few reviews, if any.  Keep in mind it’s possible that these companies placed positive reviews themselves.  It’s also possible that competitor companies  placed negative reviews on other products.  [I tend to think the best of people, but you never know]

If You Have Experience With These…

Leave a comment!  Let us know what you think.  Leave a comment and rating on the other sites I used in my research below as well so everyone knows what is good and what to avoid.

What I Found

Using appstorehq, pmopinions and the iTunes store as references, this is what I found.  Take this with a grain of salt, I don’t make any money if you decide to buy any of these.  I’ll just tell you what I found and if I were going to buy something, what it would be.  (Don’t blame me if you buy something and it’s crap!!!)

Wallsberg

This PMP iPhone app doesn’t seem to have any rave reviews.  It looks to me like they figured  they could produce a shotty product for the low price point and get away with it.  A few reviewers on this one from the app store:

“App has potential but seems to have the need for some QA. Quite ironic given the subject matter. Not bad but use loosely to prep for PMP. It seems not all of the material is taken from Pmbok. Faulty and missing data and filler questions with no bearing on Pmp are only some of the bugs I encountered.”

“I purchased this application and took my first exam, and so far have encountered incomplete questions, questions with missing graphics, and even one medical question, “Inside the cranial cavity the vertebral arteries form the ___ artery.” I think this question qualifies as NOT what I paid for. The previous review is correct, this app definitely needs QC.”

PMP Mnemonics

I don’t like this one.  It seems to be completely focused on memorization.  In their description of the product, they make the following statement:

“You are advised to listen to our specially designed eBooks 21 times.”

Wha???  We aren’t learning a language here people.  Trained response is not what (I think) you should be going for.  To me, this product focuses on memorization only and not at all on understanding concepts.  Of course I haven’t bought it myself, so this is just my impression.  Reviewer comments I found were only 2, and one of them might be a pirate:

“Don’t waste yer time with this crap.” [Arrghhh matey!]

“Yes!! It’s useful to me learning project management!”

PMChampion

This PMP iPhone application seems to have promise.  There are only 8 ratings in the iPhone app store, but they are averaging around 4 out of 5 stars thus far.  There is one reviewer comment:

“I like the formatand the references to the PMBOK Guide; however, I have noticed several grammatical errors in the questions and answers that are quite annoying.”

Apptia and Ossidian

I really wasn’t able to find much of anything on these products at all.  I have no opinion of them that I could form.

I hope this was somewhat helpful.  If not, hey, at least I tried!

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