More recently, an interesting program called Flipboard has appeared on the Internet. What is this, so far few people imagine, although the application is gaining incredible popularity among users. Let us try to consider some aspects related to it.
Flipboard: what is this program?
At first glance at the application, many users will make an unambiguous conclusion that the program is the most ordinary news magazine or just a news manager. But this is only a first impression. If you dig deeper, you can find many hidden features that distinguish the application from standard RSS news feeds or clients to view the latest events in the world.
The Flipboard application for Windows itself (or the version for mobile operating systems, which was the progenitor of the stationary modification) was originally originally created only for viewing news, but over time it became something more. The point here is that, in comparison with ordinary news clients, the program looks exactly like a magazine (even turning pages occurs as in real life). But this is only one side of the coin.
Equally, the same Flipboard application in Russian or any other language can be attributed to the category of personal diaries in which the latest news, favorite articles, videos or photos are saved.
Flipboard. What is it: a news manager or a social network?
Since modern people cannot imagine themselves without the Internet and registration in various popular networks, the creators of this program found it necessary to add such an element.
Not only can you attach Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or other social networks or services to the application, the key is to register and create your own profile directly in the program. And this only means that your friends can meet among users.
It is not surprising that the magazine has become a kind of community in which you can add other users to friends, share news, photos and videos, leave comments - in general, there is everything that no social network can do without. This is the Flipboard program. It’s very difficult to say what it is in fact, because the application combines a lot of elements that are characteristic of news managers and social networks.
Key Features
If we talk about the basic set of functions and tools, there are quite a lot of them. So, for example, when viewing news, you can read everything in a row or current publications. You can also simply select a predefined topic (the list of topics is located in a special menu).
The application also has a built-in function of recommendations issued based on an analysis of readers' preferences. You can save your favorite publications, add them to your own magazine, share them, comment on, like, etc.
In addition, the program has a simple, intuitive interface and a convenient log management system in the form of a special panel. News is constantly updated, among them you can find publications from almost all of the Runet, including such popular publications as Kommersant, RBC, Vedomosti and many others.
Advantages and disadvantages of the program
Among the main advantages of the Flipboard application, almost all users note the quick and easy linking of other social network accounts, excellent design, usability and practicality of use, high functionality, the effect of presence when turning pages, the absence of freezes associated with bugs, and, of course, free distribution . In addition, it clearly speaks in favor of this application that there is completely no advertising whatsoever!
As for the shortcomings, opinions differ somewhat. Some readers, who clearly did not understand the functional settings, complain that the application does not have the ability to download news for subsequent reading in offline mode. This is not true. The program itself really does not have this feature. However, it’s enough to synchronize with it some additional service such as Google Reader or Read Letter, as when you press the Read More button, the article will be automatically saved in the service.
Mobile version of the application
In addition to the Windows-modification, there is also a mobile version of Flipboard. The Android magazine is fundamentally no different from the application for stationary computer systems. The settings are the same, the visual perception is the same, except that the size on the screen is smaller.
As in the regular program, you need to spend several minutes of your time to instantly synchronize all accounts (as a rule, on mobile devices they are always in an active state, which greatly simplifies the task) and select topics of interest from the corresponding section. Management is carried out using a touchscreen (for example, enlargement of photos is done with a pinch).
In terms of design, it is worth noting that each selected channel has its own cover like a regular magazine, on which there is a main photo with the main news of this period of time and links to other publications with brief annotations.
Instead of an afterword
To summarize, we can note the uniqueness of the Flipboard application. What it is (a social network or still just a magazine) is difficult to determine, since the lines between the capabilities of "social networks" and ordinary print media are almost erased.
This makes this application one of the most popular among users of all age categories. It is not surprising that in a relatively short period of its existence, it has gained such high popularity. Even in the Google Play mobile service, the number of downloads exceeds 100 million! And the fact that the program has great capabilities and even some kind of versatility speaks about the professionalism of the developers.
The only thing worth mentioning in the end is the general assessment and comments of the people who installed this software product. In the same Google Play service, the average score is at 4.4, and some reviews look clearly not in favor of the application. But, I think, this is due only to the fact that not everyone knows about this program, and some just did not understand the settings.