Flipboard

My favourite news aggregator - Flipboard

I love my smartphone or should I say I love the apps that run on it.  I'm not one for actually using the thing as a phone unless I really need to but I do love to catch up on the news on the way to work or lying on the couch.

There are lots of great news and social media applications out there but one of the easiest and fun ways to get your fix must be through Flipboard.

It works like a high tech notepad where you use your finger to flip through the pages.  What's so great about it? Well, I think it's the satisfaction of flipping at high speed through any number of teaser headlines and gorgeous photos until you find something you want to read.  A single tap and the story opens up.

Flipboard aggregates news and social media feeds depending on what you have told it is of interest to you.  Take it to a whole new level by logging in through Facebook and get a whole pile of highly personalised feeds based on your FB profile and what your friends are posting.

News aggregators serve an essential function in today's glut of websites.  Rather than you having to visit each and every one of your favourites one after the other, an aggregator pulls all of the good stuff from a multitude of sources and serves then up to you organised in bite size chunks.  The best aggregators have cracked the problem of presenting that stuff in a format that is appealing.  For me, Flipboard is at the top of that pile of successful providers.

I love the way this app has been put together.  It's intuitive, it's interactive and best of all, it's free.

Try it out.  It looks great on a smartphone but even better on a larger tablet screen.