My iPhone is cluttered with news apps, one app for each major news source, plus an RSS feed reader. Great for getting information, but a lot of effort. Thank heavens then for Broadersheet, one app that allows me to control the news I receive from over 50 different news sources and filter against six different topics.
The app, from Cambridge UK based Broadersheet allows me to personalise the news I wish to receive based on the news source and or the topics I choose. The choice can be favourite, accept or bin allowing a moderation on what level of news you want. So, for me that’s a straight cut to Business, Science & Technology, leaving Politics, Lifestyle & Sports out of the equation using the ‘bin’ function.
The source list is quite impressive ranging from International mainstream news sources such as ABC News, Al Jazeera and the BBC to more specific news sources such as the economist, Forbes and the FT. Popular blogs are also catered for with content from Gizmodo and Endgadget in the mix (but no TNW? shurely shome mishtake) and entertainment titles ranging from Salon to Rotten Tomatoes to keep it interesting.
Once the news settings are fixed (they can be changed easily) your news is presented in three formats – the ‘overview’ by date as seen here on the left is your main ‘feed’ updated regularly with the latest news delivered to your preference. News can also be read by source or by topic depending on what you are after.
Any story can be clicked upon for further reading which then takes you to the published story on the relevant website. Keeping this story within the broadersheet app and not onto Safari offers the user more features to manage their news. The smart ‘eye’ function translates the page from its web version to a plainer text version of the same story which brings the story offline and makes reading much easier on the iPhone.
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Additional functions including the starring of any news page and the favourite function both help you manage the news. All starred items appear in their own section for future reference whilst the favourite function is used to help the app learn your preferred new sources.
This is a neat little app that goes much further than harnessing a bunch of RSS feeds. Time spent with this app will reward you with a better channel for the news that you want to read. A landscape function and sharing facility would be welcome to improve an already great app.
Broadersheet is currently available for £1.19 in the App Store
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