The iPad is such a fantastic device for reading news. It offers a reading experience that blends magazine/newspaper browsing with the interactivity of the Internet. I’ve been playing around with several news apps on my iPad 2 and love that I can flip through pages as if it were a magazine. I also love that I can click on a video or slideshow that illustrates a news story. It’s such a delightful way to consume content.
Here are my five favorite news apps. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. I’d love to check them out.
1) CNN — I love the default setting for this app. You have blocks of images with headlines that lead to text articles or videos. The content is strong and diverse (who knew that CNN would be a great source for entertainment news?!?). I think this is a great example of serving up a simple magazine-like experience with Internet features.
2) Flipboard — This is a fantastic app for flipping through news and social content. It initially generated buzz for offering a visually pleasing way to read links and view photos found on your Facebook and Twitter feeds. It sets it up in a newspaper-like way that lets your flip through batches of content. The app also has channels you can add, such as gaming and tech, that pull content from a variety of top sources. There are even site-specific feeds. For example, reading TechCrunch on Flipboard offers a more visually appealing experience than going to the web site.
3) BBC News — This is a straightforward app that offers an elegant touch experience and fantastic content. I highly recommend reading BBC News (by any means) at least once a week. It gives you a nice “outsider” view of world news and American politics. If you miss what news reporting used to be and are tired of the heavily opinionated news cycles that dominate America then you should definitely catch BBC News. The iPad app is clean and convenient way to browse the outstanding content.
4) Huffington Post — I’m familiar with the “slide” version of HuffPo from using it on Chrome OS. It’s definitely on the busy side, but it lets you browse through a ton of content quickly. It’s easy to sift through dozens of opinion pieces, videos, slideshows, and aggregated content using the iPad app. This is much easier to use in landscape mode. You really need the additional width to see all the content.
5) The Daily — This is one of the most ambitious “digital magazines” for iPad. I like where it is and love where it could go. The content quality is uneven, but the delivery is super slick. It uses images and touch in a way that’s dynamic and elegant. News Corp offers a free two-week trial before charging $0.99 per week or $39.99 per year. While I love how it takes advantage of the tablet experience, I’m not sold on the content quality just yet.
I just use safari. I'm not big on apps that are web based like those.
Machinima didn't make the list?
They have an app?