Smartr is one of my favourite iOS apps, period. The iPhone version is a one of, if not the, best methods for consuming news and only news, posted to your social networks and curated by your friends.
Today, Factyle, Inc. has launched Smartr for the iPad (free), a true evolution in digital news consumption. The app allows users to construct, in a super simple manner, your optimal personal newspaper by personalizing your pages, and borrowing pages from your friends and those you follow.
Consider this scenario and you’ll understand how powerful Smartr is and why you’ll want it on your iPad — Imagine going to your friend’s home and borrowing his sports page. Now do the same for tech news from your geek friend, and movie news from your film fanatic friend. Now compile all this into your custom paper and chat with your friends about the news that you’re reading together.
That’s the Smartr for iPad experience.
Some of the truly great features of the app include:
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- Built-in blogging : Many people still find it cumbersome to setup blogs and maintain them. Smartr now lets you create a blog, and publish to it in mere seconds.
The way it works is simple – when you see a story you like, click on the blog icon, and create a new blog – give it a name, and an optional description. That’s it – you’re ready to start posting stories you like to your new blog through a single touch. Once you create a blog, Smartr will send you the address by email and through the activity feed, and you’re ready to start posting stories that matter to you on to the blog.
- Real-time chat : Smartr creates a real-time chat room around every story. Your comments get shared with other readers of the story to facilitate a meaningful conversation with the relevant audience. This is a great way to discover and follow other Smartr users that share the same interests as you.
- Streamlined UX : Smartr decided moved away from the popular magazine layout employed by the likes of Flipboard, to focus strictly on news.
The reason behind a move away from a magazine-type appearance is user-driven according to Smartr’s Temo Chalasani:
“Our users were serious about their news. They wanted to focus on the content, and the people around it, as opposed to the layout / the visuals. Our streamlined UX with a feed of stories to the left, and the story on the right pane lets people do just that. Coupled with the awesome new fullscreen reader (double tap a story to go fullscreen) and easy sharing – we’ve built the best reading experience to date.”
Smartr has changed news consumption for the better yet again. Having spent the past week testing and using Smartr for the iPad, I can’t imagine how I lived without it, and I’m confident after you download it, you’ll say the same.
Pick up Smartr for the iPad here and begin consuming, discussing and blogging news today, then offer your thoughts on this true gem of an app below.
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