Ask Mr. Robot mobile app released
by Matt Low 
Jun 17th 2011 at 9:00PM
With the release of their new mobile app, you can now take Mr. Robot anywhere you want. The app is available for $1.99 on the iTunes store and the Android Marketplace.
Read on for a quick overview and my thoughts on the app.
Just to clarify, I have an iPhone 4 and an Asus Eee Pad Transformer. That means I have both versions of it: One for my phone and one for my tablet. There are a few demonstration shots you can find on their app pages. When you get it, you'll be taken to a screen where you can either load up your character from the armory or create a class of your choice and load up gear. Once your characters have been loaded, they can be saved and referenced later on.
The main screen shows the current gear that you have equipped on your character. There's buttons that will link you to lists of items for that slot and where your current equipped item ranks. If you want to see what pieces are your best, there is a button for that in the top corner. That area also shows you how optimal your current setup is.
For the players who want to fine tune the stat weightings, you can certainly customize them and adjust how you want the weights to be set and even impose a maximum cap on a particular stat.
Want to see what else is available for a slot? You can tap the list function and it shows what's available for that slot. It'll even tell you where it drops from including the boss you need to take down or whether or not it is a crafted item. If you like, you can simulate having an item equipped in order to see what effect it has on the rest of your character.
Tapping into an item brings you full information on it including how you have it reforged, gemmed and enchanted at present. Hitting the optimized button shows you the best augments you can get on it. And yes, Ask Mr. Robot does take your set pieces under consideration.
Final thoughts
I found the app itself fairly intuitive to use. It took a bit of playing around with to get an understanding of where all the different settings and features were. There are many options and filters to use that the combinations are nearly endless. If you have ready access to a computer and an internet connection, you probably won't need the app. But if you're always out and about on public transit, you can play with it to help pass the time. Bored in class? Do a bit of theorycrafting while you wait for the lecture to get to the really good part. If you're a player who doesn't have the luxury of a secondary monitor, you can grab the app for the sake of convenience and have your information and lists in front of you without having to switch to your browser constantly.
If you want to see it in action before committing to a purchase, I made a video going over the app on my tablet.
Even though the price is $1.99, the service is free of charge just by heading over to the Ask Mr. Robot site. So if you don't feel like sacrificing a coffee, the site is always there.
However, if there is one thing Ask Mr. Robot can't do, its the fact that it cannot optimize pizza toppings down to the meat to cheese ratio.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
MortalCoil Jun 17th 2011 9:05PM
A darn good resource for the raider on the go!
jfofla Jun 17th 2011 9:10PM
Bought it!
I LOVE Mr Robot!
Ailuvan Jun 17th 2011 9:20PM
Android version has been out for almost 3 weeks now, already had a tablet optimization and bug tweak release. Even the first release worked perfectly for my Atrix.
Joseph Smith Jun 18th 2011 9:10PM
The iOS app was finished about the same time, but Apple is notorious for taking forever to approve an app.
$1.99 seems like lot to charge for an app that can be found for free on the internet, but I for one have found the portability and convenience of not having to alt-tab when I'm optimizing to be MORE than worth it.
For the record, I've never bought an app before, and definitely don't pay for blizzard's 'premium' services, but I gladly coughed up the $2 for this one.
nodsarmy Jun 17th 2011 9:25PM
last time i used ask mr robot it lowered my dps by 5k
steve23094 Jun 17th 2011 10:37PM
Common sense tells me that if Mr Robot gave you such incredibly stupid suggestions that resulted in your DPS to drop by as much as 5k and you were thick enough to follow them, then the most likely scenario is in fact that you are just too incompetent to understand how the app works.
Chase Jun 17th 2011 9:30PM
Bought it, works well. Mostly got it because their website helped the crap out of me.
PaulC Jun 19th 2011 7:37AM
sssoooo, its a laxative?
MusedMoose Jun 17th 2011 9:40PM
Just adding to the praise for the main site. I don't have a mobile device, but the site itself has been awesome for my fire mage. I'm not normally the type to hunt down BiS items, but it's great to know where to get them if I want them.
Prelimar Jun 17th 2011 9:48PM
i bought the mobile version last week or so, and just like you say, it's great. worth every penny.
zubbiefish Jun 17th 2011 10:57PM
I dig Mr.Robot. Now if he'd get himself a favicon...
Lohkie Jun 18th 2011 1:33AM
Just got the app and love it. One random note is that by default it had BiS set to pre-ZA/ZG. One I tweaked that everything else is great.
Snuzzle Jun 18th 2011 3:33AM
Eh. The website is free, the app should be too imho.
Azizrael Jun 18th 2011 4:10AM
Developing apps costs money. Any profit from selling the apps will likely help with the cost of running the service.
(I have no connection with Mr Robot and I haven't bought the app, I'm just saying.)
Narkondas Jun 18th 2011 5:49AM
Get over it. A one time payment of 2$ won't break your bank.
I am amazed that there are no adds on the website already - running such a service is not exactly free.
Snuzzle Jun 18th 2011 3:01PM
Sorry my opinion isn't popular, but I stand by it. The fact remains, that the website is free and hosting a website costs far more than developing an app. Especially with how popular this particular one is.
It's not about the $2. It just feels wrong to be charging for the app when the website remains free.
teenpspjunkie Jun 18th 2011 4:19PM
As a web application developer I can say without a doubt that development and support are much more costly than running a web server and maintenance. And the fact your not willing to spend 2$ to support the people that spend a lot of their free time and their own money making the mr. robot means your a horrible person.
Joseph Smith Jun 18th 2011 9:28PM
Mr Robot was nice enough to provide the service for free on his website. He still hasn't even made money from it by putting ads on.
He then coded for probably 6 months or so to bring the same functionality to the android and iOS platforms so that you could do it on your mobile device. If you don't have the spare cash around to buy him a coffee for his trouble, well, you can still use the FREE website and have the features there. I don't see why you would feel the need to sound like he turned around and made the website into a premium pay service after getting you addicted to it.
As much as it's about convenience for me, I also believe in supporting developers when I can.
Point of fact you COULD use the web browser on your mobile device to access the FREE website and have some of the same experience, He didn't block the site from portable devices. Though personally, I prefer the layout of the app on the iPhone to the web service.
Daeolt Jun 18th 2011 5:12AM
Where'd you get that background for your Transformer?
Dudegar Jun 18th 2011 6:47AM
I wonder when will Blizzard send them C&D letters since they're using Blizzard assets and selling them. Remember the original mobile armory that was made by some fan? It costed like $.99 and also had to be pulled from the app store.