Wildcard lets you browse the Web as cards instead of webpages

A new mobile browser released on the App Store today wants to change the way you browse the Web and interact with content.

Wildcard is a free “browser” that presents the Web in an entirely new way. Instead of showing pages, Wildcard presents you with cards for everything, with search as the starting point for discovering content. The main screen shows you trending searches and interesting new content, or you’re able to search for any term you like to get started.

Search in the app is smart and fast, offering up a mashup of content from around the Web. For news, you’re able to simply click on the card and read the entire story. It’s a great way to get a variety of news from different sites without needing to open multiple apps; the service also offers a ‘digest’ that shows the latest news in a single feed.

You can search for almost anything, just like you would on a normal search engine with results presented in a consistent, beautiful card layout. Because Wildcard taps into a variety of sources, you’ll get personalized information based on your query, places near you and more.

The most interesting area of the app is oriented around when you’re researching something to buy. A quick search for ‘podcasting microphone’ brings up reviews of microphones as well as the ability to purchase them from right inside the app with a single tap.

This is powerful for both users and businesses. Wildcard allows publishers, merchants and developers to hook directly into searches so that customers can purchase goods and browse their sites in this card style format. The company says it’s easy to integrate the app if you’re already using Twitter Cards or Open Graph code, it just requires one extra line to be added.

There are a limited number of brands onboard right now, but some fairly large retailers like Walgreens are already offering items for purchase.

Wildcard is an incredibly fast way to get information and feels like a peek into the future of search. Using the cards style layout is interesting, as it’s something that Google already does in many of its own search results and in Google Now, but Wildcard feels like it’s done an incredible job of mashing up data from lots of sources.

The company is only starting out right now so it has limited (but impressive) data. Over time, as developers add support and more brands get onboard to sell physical goods, Wildcard could become a formidable player in the search space.

Wildcard is free to download but is only available in the US App Store at time of writing.

➤ Wildcard (iOS App Store)