Mobile news aggregation app Flipboard released a major update on Tuesday, adding various UI tweaks and Etsy integration, but perhaps most exciting is a new feature that allows users to create and curate their own virtual magazines.
With Flipboard version 2.0, the app becomes more of a personalized content reader and less of an aggregator. Complete with social networking integration and sharable magazines, the app hits a new level of customization and functionality while retaining the same interface recognized by some 50 million users.
On the surface, Flipboard 2.0 is much the same as its predecessors, with text and video content from a multitude of sources loaded onto flippable magazine-like pages.
The highlight feature in the newest update is content curation. As noted by Flipboard's official blog, users can now collect and save online articles, photos, audio and video into customizable magazines. Creations can be set to private or shared with friends and on Flipboard itself and there is no limit to the number of magazines that can be created.
In use, the new tool is easy to navigate, and with a simple tap of the "+" button located next to articles, content can be added ("flipped") to a previously created magazine. Once a magazine is populated, added content will be automatically laid out in the typical print-style Flipboard style.
The feature is set for sharing with the Flipboard community by default, though an option to keep content private is available when articles are added. Other Flipboard account holders can utilize the app's new Content Search to seek out people, topics or hashtags and subscribe to user-generated magazines. Alongside the original source material shared by user magazines are comments pulled from social networking sites.
User interface changes include a Content Guide that displays popular sources, notifications, account information and more. Fast section switching is also supported through a new menu option, while a highly requested bookmarking function is now built-in.
In addition to the enhancements mentioned above, there is a new bookmarklet that allows users to flip nearly anything on the web and, in a bid to monetize the app, a new partnership with Etsy allows for in-app shopping. Finally, Flipboard now boasts an opt-in to Facebook Open Graph for even deeper social networking integration.
Content Guide.
From the release notes:
You can now collect and save content into your own magazines, tap the new “+†button to get started.Flipboard
- Your magazines are public, but can be made private (viewable only to you).
- Use the new bookmarklet to add items to your magazines from your browser.
- Get Flipboard notifications when people like, comment or subscribe to your magazines.
- Easily email or share magazines to Facebook, Twitter, G+, etc
- Search is now front and center on your Flipboard, with new improved results.
- Faster page-loading and faster flipping performance.
- Personalized recommendations for more to add to your Flipboard.
v2.0 comes in at 9.7MB and can be downloaded for free from the App Store.