Flipboard for iOS Updated With New Deeply Personalized 'Smart Magazines'

[MacRumors]

News-focused iOS app Flipboard today announced an update that introduces a new UI which creates custom, curated magazines based on various user "passions." The Version 4.0 update is said to be a direct response to the overabundance of news sources -- from magazines to online outlets and social media -- and serve as a way to "effortlessly get you to the things you love."

The heart of the new update is a featured called "Smart Magazine." Here users can search and specify specific passions and topics they care about (photography, movies, etc.), and Smart Magazine will create a digital collection of up-to-date stories and news on each topic, and continuously update the section as new stories break. The new tool is said to be curated "by experts and enthusiasts."

Flipboard 4.0 is a response to our ever-growing ecosystem of publishers, Flipboard Magazines, topics and more. With over 30 million magazines created, thousands of publishers on our platform, and tens of thousands of topics--plus input from social networks like Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn--we re-imagined Flipboard to more effortlessly get you to the things you love.

Long-time readers who follow lots of content should find a more streamlined experience, while new users will be able to dive right into their passions with minimal setup.

Users will be able to pick from a collection of sub-categories once they search for a Smart Magazine passion to follow, and a learning algorithm will improve Flipboard's news aggregation features over time. On the Home carosuel users can have up to nine Smart Magazines.

Flipboard originally launched on iPad in 2010, and then on iPhone in 2011, accompanied by a Tweet from Phil Schiller who remarked that the app was "very nice." Since then, Flipboard has gained a bevy of competitors in the online news aggregation space, including Apple News. In 2015 one competitor, Zite, bowed out of the race and encouraged fans to migrate to Flipboard in its stead.

At the time of writing, the update hasn't hit the App Store yet, but it should appear later in the day. Flipboard is available on the iOS App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Article Link: Flipboard for iOS Updated With New Deeply Personalized 'Smart Magazines'

 

[deuxani]

It's an OK update on the iDevices side, but not on the web. When I go to flipboard.com and click MacRumors (which I'm following), it just shows a blank page with the text "MacRumors hasn’t created any magazines yet." Also The Verge and Engadget are not working in the browser anymore. They all show updated thumbnails, but there is nothing there when you click it. So I'm not that happy with this update at this moment no.

 

[Avieshek]

Haven't used Fliboard for ages though install it whenever there is a new device bought.

 

[EdT]

Oh great, another site/app that will feed us what we want to hear and shield us from what we don't.

 

[CarlJ]

Oh great, another site/app that will feed us what we want to hear and shield us from what we don't.

You mean like reading only rumors about Macs instead of rumors about all the other computer platforms?

 

[EdT]

You mean like reading only rumors about Macs instead of rumors about all the other computer platforms?

At work I use/write software for Programmable Logic Controllers and use/specify Windows computers for industrial machines. Most of the magazines I read there are industrial machine specific, like Control Design and EDN but the basis of that world is Windows.

 

[FlipboardJack]

It's an OK update on the iDevices side, but not on the web. When I go to flipboard.com and click MacRumors (which I'm following), it just shows a blank page with the text "MacRumors hasn’t created any magazines yet." Also The Verge and Engadget are not working in the browser anymore. They all show updated thumbnails, but there is nothing there when you click it. So I'm not that happy with this update at this moment no.

Hello - my name is Jack, and I work on product at Flipboard. Very sorry you ran into this bug in the new version of our Web app this morning. We have now fixed this issue. Hoping you'll give it another try!

 

[rhett7660]

snip...

Flipboard originally launched on iPad in 2010, and then on iPhone in 2011, accompanied by a Tweet from Phil Schiller who remarked that the app was "very nice." Since then, Flipboard has gained a bevy of competitors in the online news aggregation space, including Apple News. In 2015 one competitor, Zite, bowed out of the race and encouraged fans to migrate to Flipboard in its stead.

I thought Flipboard acquired Zite via purchase? This wasn't the case? The purchase doesn't sound like it was a case of "bowing" out of the race like it is mentioned in the article.

https://www.cnet.com/news/flipboard-buys-zite-from-cnn-to-quash-a-rival/
https://techcrunch.com/2014/03/05/flipboard-2/
http://adage.com/article/digital/flipboard-acquires-cnn-s-zite-60-million/291986/
[doublepost=1486651032][/doublepost]

Oh great, another site/app that will feed us what we want to hear and shield us from what we don't.

Well nothing is forcing you to use the product. I for one don't like to see or read about stuff that doesn't not interest me. If I don't want to read it, why would I subscribe or like it?

 

[EdT]

I thought Flipboard acquired Zite via purchase? This wasn't the case? The purchase doesn't sound like it was a case of "bowing" out of the race like it is mentioned in the article.

https://www.cnet.com/news/flipboard-buys-zite-from-cnn-to-quash-a-rival/
https://techcrunch.com/2014/03/05/flipboard-2/
http://adage.com/article/digital/flipboard-acquires-cnn-s-zite-60-million/291986/
[doublepost=1486651032][/doublepost]

Well nothing is forcing you to use the product. I for one don't like to see or read about stuff that doesn't not interest me. If I don't want to read it, why would I subscribe or like it?

Because you can never know where you will find something interesting or enlightening that you are unaware of. Especially if you never even look. We've created echo chambers that bombard us with points of view we already believe verified by sources we always accept.

 

[rhett7660]

Because you can never know where you will find something interesting or enlightening that you are unaware of. Especially if you never even look. We've created echo chambers that bombard us with points of view we already believe verified by sources we always accept.

Honestly I hear what you are saying. I really do. But when it comes to what I want to read I am usually selective on where or what I read, but then again I do have a wide variety of topics and sources. But on the political front, over the past few months I have been steering way clear!

 

[EdT]

Honestly I hear what you are saying. I really do. But when it comes to what I want to read I am usually selective on where or what I read, but then again I do have a wide variety of topics and sources. But on the political front, over the past few months I have been steering way clear!

Honestly, so have I. I'm trying to find sources that honestly try to verify if what someone says is true or not, and if their proposals are solutions or merely playing to an audience. Philosophical differences, intelligently delineated is what I'd like to find.

 

[rhett7660]

Honestly, so have I. I'm trying to find sources that honestly try to verify if what someone says is true or not, and if their proposals are solutions or merely playing to an audience. Philosophical differences, intelligently delineated is what I'd like to find.

Some how I have a feeling you won't find this type of app, given most of these harvest your likes and then goes out and looks for similar items. You could always try RSS feeds, but then again you might find you are getting feeds from known places etc. That is the million dollar question! "verify if what someone says is true or not."

I have to wonder if what we have been feed this entire time has been nothing but a big lie! Sorry, I will remove the aluminium foil hat now.

 

[imronburgundy]

Oh great, another site/app that will feed us what we want to hear and shield us from what we don't.

Where's the downvote button when we need one?

 

[wolfpackfan]

Disappointed the iPad version doesn't have all the features that the iPhone version has.

 

[Jessica Lares]

Not that I don't like that you can fine tune it to say I don't want technology news stories about virtual reality or from the source buzzfeed.com, but that seems like something they could have figured out with AI without you having to tap five times to set that up.

They're just trying to help people spend less time flipping through stuff and more time reading. There was some topics I played with that when you added it at the beginning, it was mostly just listicles, and (IMO) most of those are never worth the time.

 

[rhett7660]

I wish they would incorporate more of Zite's functionality into their product. Zite, upto the very end was my favorite iPad and iPhone app. Hands down. I spent more time in that app. Was sad to see it go, had hopes for it in Flipboard, but it hasn't been the same or even remotely close.