TOH AppWatch: Color Capture by Benjamin Moore (a.k.a. “ben”)

Another paint company gets in on the app game. Color Capture by Benjamin Moore (also known by the cutesy nickname “ben”) offers basically the same features as the Sherwin-Williams app I reviewed last week, but frankly it’s not quite as handy. Why? For one thing, it automatically picks a color from the photo you’ve chosen, instead of letting you do it first. The paint hue appears in a row of similar hues at the bottom of your screen, like you’d find on the paint strip at the store—which, fine, but this doesn’t make winnowing down the choices any easier. Plus, you must tap the mysterious “Harmony” button at the top of the screen to view colors that coordinate with the one you picked (ColorSnap does this automatically). And using the “Harmony” feature has netted me some iffy advice: does dusty rose, for instance, really pair well with bright blue? Perhaps in nature the combo looks fine, but I’m not putting those colors together in my living room.

So, hats off to “ben” for the effort, but for now ColorSnap is still my app of choice. I’m excited to see what other paint makers come up with. What I'd really love is an app that will match a color from one paint company to similar hues offered by competitors. (Let's face it, not all paints are created equal.) Anyone?