Quizzes with lengthier time limits fare no better on the iPhone. When taking the on the Sporcle Website, I can usually name all 195 countries--or pretty darn close to that--well before the 15 allotted minutes expire. On the iPhone, I run out of time around the 170th country mark... and my poor finger is exhausted after tapping out names like "Kyrgyzstan" and "Republic of Congo."

The iPhone app has some nice features. A History panel remembers every quiz you took and how you scored, in case you're the type who likes to top your personal best. You can also see how your results stack up against other quiz-takers. And finding quizzes is easy enough, whether you search by category, use the app's Quick Play feature to see only a few games, or ask Sporcle to provide you with a random game.

The latest version of Sporcle allows you to play games in landscape mode, and while I normally find the horizontally-oriented keyboard easier to type on, here it covers up too much of the game's playing screen to be very useful. While that 1.1.0 update also promises some bug fixes, a few still remain--on occasion, the navigation buttons at the bottom of the app will disappear, trapping you in whatever category you happen to be playing.

is a free version of the app that restricts you to just 25 games (and not very challenging ones at that). It also features ads that can be very distracting when they appear in the middle of quizzes. Sporcle Lite is probably best for downloading to see if you find the timed typing aspect of the game as unpleasant as I did before you pay $1 for the full version.

Overall, Sporcle is a disappointment in mobile form, proof that what works on one platform doesn't necessarily translate well to another. It's just as well--I have some work I need to get done.