Flipboard has been around for quite some time… for Apple devices. But Android users have been left out as developers aim for the almighty Apple and develops a port Android as an afterthought. (I’m half joking here btw) But if you are an Android phone user and not a fan of Apple – you might have missed this application.
Take a look with me as I go over probably the coolest “Social Magazine” you will probably ever see. This is Flipboard for Android as leaked by the fine folks over at XDA Developers Well… give Falcho a shout that avgjoegeek.net sent you and give him a Thanks! Update: Flipboard for Android is Now Available! – 6/22/2012. I would read to find out what Flipboard is all about though!
OK, What Is Flipboard?
Flipboard was originally available for the iPad is down in its bare essence an RSS reader on steroids. Now I know what your thinking – uh, OK? So what? Well what makes this different from other 9 billion RSS readers out there is that this is one you can actively interact with. It is the first reader I’ve come across that is “user-centric” meaning all of the content presented to you is created by your social media, and interests you actually care about reading. Flipboard calls itself a “Social Magazine” and it truly is. You not only get great curated content but your content is shaped by people you interact with from your Social networks.
Content, Content, Content
The basic functionality of Flipboard is that it delivers a TON of content in a multitude of subject matter, media, and everywhere else you can think of. I have mine setup to read the latest on technology and gaming (of course) and I get the latest updates from places like EndGadgets, Arstechnica, The Verge, and a bunch of others.
Flipboard Tiles 1
Flipboard Tiles 2
Flipboard Tiles 3
Typography
This is the first RSS reader on my phone that looks absolutely gorgeous. It presents highly optimized photos and text that load incredibly quick – even on AT&T’s “faux-g” (LTE) network!
The typography makes reading articles, tweets, facebook updates, etc.. an absolute joy to read. My wife gets upset with me because I can read Flipboard for hours.
But I’m only barely touching on what else Flipboard does.
Social Media
Flipboard Twitter
It also pulls content from just about everywhere. Twitter, Facebook, Intagram, Google Reader, Tumblr… you name it. It can probably pull from it. What makes it cool is that as you are reading your social media content in Flipboard it will automatically format the information presenting you either with minimalistic one-liners, a “full” tweet look, or even present like an article if it has an image in the original share.
What makes Flipboards integration with Social Media so cool is that if you just wish to favorite, like, reply etc.. you can do it all from within the application itself. You (almost) never have to leave the application and can still interact with sites like Twitter and Facebook!
Twitter Lists
This is where you might have wished to make lists inside of your Twitter account. If your like me and you have a rather large number of followers/friends (OK – mines at 800 and growing as of this writing – feel free to follow me on Twitter lol!) if you have them sorted by lists then you could even just read specific lists instead of the insanity that is your current Twitter stream!
Muting
One of the cool features I found on Flipboard is that you can Mute a user that appears on your Flipboard! So if you don’t wish to see your Aunt Melba’s crazy recipes for Fruitcake any more – you can have her muted so she doesn’t show up in your Flipboard any more! This feature is a godsend even though I filter who I follow I still get the random porn bot or “get a billion twitter followers if you buy this app” messages.
Muted!
So Much More
And still I haven’t been able to tell you everything that it does. You will need to just go out and get it. If you are an Apple user? It is available right now at iTunes and you should have already had it installed. If your an Android user? Read on.
But to see all of the features of what Flipboard actually does? You can see the YouTube trailer for Flipboard below. And if you have 40 minutes to spare I suggest seeing an interview with their CEO here. (source: Scobleizer )
I’m Sold – Where Do I Get it!
That is the kicker. Technically it isn’t available yet according to Flipboards website. It is now available on the Google Play store as of 6/22/2012! You can get it from the Google Play store now!
Flipboard for Android Is Here
I can tell you that I have been running subsequent betas for awhile now with no issue on my device. But I have the new HTC One X running Android 4.0 ICS. I haven’t had a chance to test it on a Gingerbread device yet! (My wife has the Captivate Glide running Gingerbread – so it will be interesting to see how it works on there)
The Dreaded Force Close
The Downside?
Besides not being an official release? People are complaining that it is “spyware” as it does get a lot of your information in order to create the content. That and apparently it takes up a lot of storage on your device (yikes! 74 megs!!). This is definitely a “wifi-only” type application. So for those that are uber-concious about what gets shared and how much space an app takes on your phone? You might want to try alternatives such as Feedly or Google Currents as alternatives for your RSS/Media Reader needs.
Are you a Flipboard fan? Leave a comment below to let me know what you think about Flipboard!
