Back in Time (iOS software)

Back in Time is an education book app for iOS about the history of the universe, earth, life and mankind that uses a time analogy to explain different timescales.[1] Released on September 22, 2011, it was developed by the software company Landka in collaboration with scientific institutions such as ESA/Hubble Space Telescope.[2] The app was featured worldwide in the App Store and rapidly became a success, reaching the top sales of iPad book apps in 38 countries.[3][4] Back in Time was distinguished by The New York Times and selected for the top 10 apps of the year.[5][6] In 2012 it was recognized with a World Summit Award (UN based initiative).[7]

Back in Time
Developer(s)Landka
Initial releaseiPad
September 22, 2011
iPhone
December, 2011
PlatformiOS
Available inEnglish, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Spanish
TypeEducation Book App
Websitelandka.com/apps/back-in-time 

Features

Back in Time is a cross between a history textbook and a multimedia encyclopedia. The app presents 50 key events since the beginning of the universe until the present day covering different timescales such as the chronology of the universe, the geological history of earth, the evolutionary history of life and human history.[8][9] In order to better understand these timescales, the app proposes a time analogy where the entire age of the universe (13.7 billion years) is scaled into a 24-hour clock. Navigation is possible by browsing several timelines or by rewinding the pointers of a clock to go back in time.[2] The text of each chapter is complemented with images, videos, interactive timelines, animations and trivia. The app's soundtrack was produced by Rodrigo Leão.[3]

Time analogy
Back in Time uses a time analogy where the entire age of the universe is scaled into a 24-hour clock. According to this analogy live on Earth emerged at 5:20 pm.

Back in Time presents the most relevant events in history using a 24-hour clock as a time analogy. This analogy scales the entire age of the universe (13.7 billion years) into a single day (24 hours) so that the beginning of the universe (Big Bang) started at 0:00h and at present time the imaginary clock reads 24:00h. Back in Time uses this analogy as a method to visualize and compare key events in the history of the universe, of earth, life, and human history. This analogy was originally proposed by Astronomer Bob Lambert from the John J. McCarthy Observatory as a tool for helping students visualizing large timescales.[1]

Key events in History presented using the 24-hour analogy (excerpt from Back in Time)
24-hours

analogy

 Chronology Event Description
Universe
0:00
13.7 billion years ago
 Big Bang Creation of the Universe
0:21
13.5 billion years ago
 First Stars First stars were born
8:35
8.8 billion years ago
 Milky Way The Milky Way takes the shape of a galactic disk
15:56
4.6 billion years ago
 Solar System Formation of the Solar System
Life
17:20
3.8 billion years ago
 Life on Earth First traces of life on Earth
23:02
545 million years ago
 Cambrian Explosion Sudden increase in sea life diversity
23:10
475 million years ago
 Land Plants First records of land plants
23:35
230 million years ago
 Rise of the Dinosaurs Dinosaurs became the dominant terrestrial vertebrates
23:53
65.5 million years ago
 K-T Extinction Mass extinction (massive asteroid impact)
Humankind
23:59:44
2.5 million years ago
 Cradle of Humankind Australopithecus
23:59:59
200 000 years ago
 Homo Sapiens Last known link in the evolution of humanity
-442 ms *
70 000 years ago
 Human migrations Homo Sapiens migrates out of Africa
-76 ms *
12 000 years ago
 Cradle of Civilization Rise of civilization
-32 ms *
5 000 years ago
 Writing Beginning of recorded history

* milliseconds before midnight

Development and release

Back in Time was developed by the Portuguese software company Landka over a period of 10 months.[3][4] The iPad version was released on the App Store on September 22, 2011. The initial version included 44 chapters and was available in 5 languages (English, Spanish, German, French and Portuguese). Subsequent upgrades included additional chapters, translation into two more languages (Chinese and Japanese) and support for retina display.[1]

A dedicated version for iPhone was released in December 2011.[10] In June 2013, a version of the app for Microsoft Windows was released as a result of a collaboration between the developers and Intel with the purpose of showcase the capabilities of Windows 8.[11]

Reception and awards

Upon release, Back in Time was featured in the App Store worldwide and rapidly became a success, reaching the top sales of iPad book apps in 38 countries.[3][4] The app received generally positive reviews from the users (4.8/5.0 rating score on the App Store) and press.[6][8][9][12] Back in Time was featured by The New York Times for the top 10 apps of the year.[5]

The app was selected by the American Photo Magazine for the top 10 Photo eBooks of the year, distinguished by BBC as one of the 10 best history apps, and was recommended by several education publications.[13][14][15][16][17] In 2012, Back in Time won a World Summit Award (UN based initiative) for Learning and Education.[5][7]

References
  1. LANDKA. Back in Time. App Store. ISBN 978-989-97421-0-9. Retrieved 2018-10-17.
  2. Usher, Oli. "Educational App with ESA/Hubble Content in New York Times Top 10 Best iPad Apps". Hubble Space Telescope | ESA. Retrieved 2018-10-17.
  3. Coentrão, Abel (2012-01-24). "Portuguese app reaches top sales in 38 countries". PÚBLICO (in Portuguese).
  4. "Portuguese app in the US top sales". Jornal Expresso (in Portuguese). 2012-10-01.
  5. "iPad Apps - the Best of 2011 - App Smart". The New York Times. 2012-01-05. Retrieved 2018-10-17.
  6. Tedeschi, Bob (2011-10-06). "Watching Stars Fall | AppSmart". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-10-18.
  7. "Back in Time | WSA 2012 Winners". World Summit Awards. Retrieved 2018-10-17.
  8. Panarelli, Liz. "Back in Time - App Review". Common Sense Media. Retrieved 2018-10-22.
  9. Chan, Casey (2011-10-06). "Back In Time For iPad: See The History Of The Universe In 24 Hours". Gizmodo. Retrieved 2018-10-18.
  10. Back in Time for iPhone. App Store. ISBN 978-989-97421-0-9.
  11. Totura, Nathan. "Redesigning 'Back in Time' from an iPad* to Windows* Store App - Case Study". Intel. Retrieved 2018-10-24.
  12. Dredge, Stuart (2011-09-26). "Apps rush". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-10-18.
  13. "10 Apps for Teaching History". BBC | Active. Archived from the original on 2016-03-11. Retrieved 2018-10-18.
  14. Crager, Jack (2012-12-06). "The Best Photo Books Of 2012". American Photo Magazine. Retrieved 2018-10-18.
  15. Anderson, Rane (2012). 110 Amazing Apps for Education. Shell Education. p. 106. ISBN 9781425808471.
  16. "See what's APPening in education" (PDF). Microsoft.
  17. "12 Good History Apps for High School Students". Educational Technology and Mobile Learning. Retrieved 2018-10-30.

Official website

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