Waterproof braggart: Sony is releasing apps that only work underwater

By Malarie Gokey August 15, 2014

sony underwater apps goldfish umbrella goldie — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Water-resistant smartphones are obviously great when it comes to protecting your devices from the elements and accidental spills, but they often offer glitchy performance underwater. Sony has introduced six new underwater apps that are specifically designed for you to use when your Xperia Z or Z1S is submerged.

The underwater apps are mostly useless, but they are all meant to be cute and entertaining. Many of them seem to be geared towards kids, especially the app Goldie, which features a virtual goldfish. Once you’ve submerged your Xperia Z in water with the app open, a cute goldfish starts swimming around. In a promo video for the app, Goldie looks like she’s having a good time in the water until you pull her out. Then she gasps and flops like, well, a fish out of water. Luckily, this goldfish never dies, so you won’t have to run to the pet store to replace Bubbles every week.

Related: Truly waterproof: Sony Xperia Z2 survives under the sea for 2 weeks

Sony also has a gimmicky app called Photo Lab that lets you develop your photos in a faux chemical bath. Old-school photography lovers might enjoy the effect a time or two before the aura wears off. There’s also an app called Plantimal that lets you grow a virtual seed into a real creature if you remember to water it every day. Parents will be sure to love this one. Imagine all the toddlers asking their moms to water their plants.

The next app, Rainy-oke is just a karaoke app for when you feel compelled to sing in the rain. Then there’s Sink Sunk, a submarine game that requires you to bring your submarine up for air now and then, probably while you’re in the bathtub. Lastly, Sony offers Tiny Umbrella, a truly whimsical app that pretends to be an umbrella, but doesn’t actually offer you any protection from the rain. It’ll make getting wet more fun though? I guess?

You can check out all of Sony’s underwater apps in action on YouTube.

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