Tag Archives: Apps

Google Reader Lives?

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Not quite. The app in today’s focus is cleverly names gReader. This will be a quick post for today. gReader is a cool concept is basically keeping Google Reader alive after it’s slow death. gReader has all the functionality of Reader that people know and love. So far it is only available for Android, no online support or iPhone/iPad. This could spell a huge issue for most users. But for what it is, it’s not a bad package. Personally, this is not my favorite of clients, as I’ve previously stated it’s too much text. I like the visually driven interfaces. However, it’s worth the second look if you’re a die hard Reader user and just are reluctant to changes. Check out the video below and grab it from the Play Store. There is a free ad supported version, and a 4.99 ad free pro version.

Check out their website too at greader.co

Also if anyone has a particular app that they’d like to recommend please let me know in the comments.

-AJ

Taptu: DJ’ing Your News On Your Time

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Taptu is the app of the week. Their slogan is “DJ Your News” which is appropriate for their feature list. First and foremost, upon downloading the app you are given the option to log in with Facebook, Twitter, or your Google account. Logging in with Google would begin the sync from Reader. So anybody looking for that functionality, Taptu has it. Taptu’s user interface is pretty good. It has a mosaic look that I personally love about Pulse. Once you click a story it is expanded full screen for better reading. Once a story is open there are multiple sharing options including the standard Facebook, Twitter, and email. Probably the coolest part about Taptu is the “DJ” feature. Taptu can handle multiple RSS feeds, and searchable sources from their databases but the “DJ” feature allows for categories. The user can select multiple predefined categories such as “Android or Technology and Gadgets”  and they are added to the “DJ” feature. Once the DJ button is used Taptu becomes a virtual newspaper allowing the user to receive news stories under certain categories from thousands of sources. This allows for discovery of new news sources and areas of interest. Overall Taptu is on the right track. It has one of my must have features of a companion website that syncs with the app. Taptu is absolutely worth the try and it’s available for so many different platforms. Check it out, you may just leave behind every other app. Visually and functionality, yeah, Taptu has it all.

Pick it up from the Play Store for Android, or App Store for iOS devices. It is also available online at taptu.com

Check out this video by the developer using Taptu on the iPad.

 

-AJ

Feedly: The Google Reader Savior

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So now that the plug has officially been pulled on Google Reader the world is looking for a replacement to keep all of their feeds in one convenient place. The front runner, and also the app that has seen membership increase ten fold since the reader announcement, Feedly. Feedly is by far superior in so many ways to reader how we it keeps things just as organized and similar to reader for the die hard fans. Right off the bat when launching the app for the first time,  the user is able to log in using your Google account which will then sync all of your feeds to Feedly. All folders and data transfer over as well. Feedly has what I love about pulse as well, a companion website. Not only can it be accessed from your you one or tablet, but online as well, just like reader. Feedly also has multiple different views, one like reader, and one that is mosaic (similar to the pulse layout). Overall Feedly has gone above and beyond to make the loss of reader a little easier. Interface is great and always improving. Syncing with Google is easy and stories are super easy to find. Social media integration is equipped as well. I could talk for awhile about it but try it this weekend and see for yourself if it’s the app you’ve been searching for. I would ultimately have to agree that it is the best replacement for stock Google Reader. It’s almost enough to persuade me to leave Pulse, my favorite, not quite. It’s a great app and it is available cross platform at the whopping price of absolutely nothing. It’s a free app, so why not give it a go? Feedly is great and it is an overall great alternative to Google Reader. I would even go as far as to stretch and say that Feedly goes above and beyond the Google Reader Experience.

Check out the video back when Feedly was released in 2011.

 

Grab it on the Play Store or Apple App Store, also check it out online at feedly.com

Feed your mind with Feedly, you won’t be disappointed.

-AJ

Death to Google Reader-End of an Era

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Yes it is true unfortunately. Announced on the Official Google Blog a few days ago and further explained in the Official Google Reader Blog with the simple caption of “powering down.” Google Reader has been around since 2005. It offered an easy way to sort through RSS feeds and simply put any other online resource that updated itself. Google provided a short explanation on why they have decided to pull the plug on Reader:

“There are two simple reasons for this: usage of Google Reader has declined, and as a company we’re pouring all of our energy into fewer products. We think that kind of focus will make for a better user experience.”

Google has assured users that it will give subscribers to Reader what they’re calling a three month sunset period. In that time users can download their information from Reader using Google Takeout or simply find an alternative to Reader and sync their stories with that. Many alternatives are out there, if you haven’t caught that drift yet from my writings. The good people at LifeHacker have posted the five best user submitted alternatives to Google Reader. Being that Google Reader was the immediate starting point of this blog I thought providing a solid farewell was due. It’s been a great run Reader, but Google is telling users that it’s time to let go. Next week I will be posting a review of what is being talked about as the best replacement for Google Reader. It’s an app called Feedly and Reader users might be impressed to find out the functionality. The Google Reader mobile app has already been pulled from the Google Play Store as well as the iPhone App Store. Stay tuned. In the mean time check out this CNET Update on Google Reader’s departure:

Good bye Google Reader, you will be thoroughly missed.

Update:

The end to Google Reader has more than just bothered some people. A change.org petition as well as a strongly worded letter has launched to attempt to keep Google Reader alive. Many are reporting that this effort is futile but we shall see what comes of it. As of this posting there are a total of 138,545 signatures with a total of 150,000 set as the goal.

-AJ

Flipboard: Difference of Opinion

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This week the app in focus is called Flipboard. Flipboard originally launched only for iPad but has not spread to iPhone and Android smartphones. Flipboard, like the rest of the apps I have previously reviewed, is really good with news reading and takes it’s own intuitive approach to the user interface. I’ll keep this review short and sweet and point the difference that make Flipboard standout from the rest. First and foremost, no scrolling is need for this app. It’s take on reading is like a magazine, you flip through pages to continue reading stories, similar to Google Currents, but with a cool little transition effect. As usual, RSS feeds as well as most other websites and things can be added to your feed to make your news reading experiences more personalized. One of the biggest things that separates Flipboard from the rest of the apps previously mentioned is that it has heavy integration with social media. For instance, by adding the Twitter or Facebook source options, Flipboard will automatically find what stories, websites, and videos your friends are sharing and place them front and center for you to see. You can basically flip through your friends recent shared stories like a big magazine of your life. It’s a cool idea and it’s definitely caught on. It’s a great interface, and if you’re digging it’s comes at the whopping price of totally free. There’s integration with Google Reader, as well as with social networks, however there is no desktop companion site at the moment. There is a website that explains information on the app and development. Overall I like Flipboard, and it’s definitely a winner among users looking for a quick news reading fix with the ability to interact with friends across their social media life. Flipboard is worth the tour and worth the time to try it out.

Grab it from the Play Store for Android, or App Store for iOS

Also check out this video the developers made to introduce the app back in 2010.


-AJ

The Age of the User

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I have found that it is increasingly difficult to keep up with breaking news and updates about things that most interest me. I am an avid skateboarder of eleven years and a die hard Windows user. As of the past few years I have also taken a huge liking to the Android platform. The biggest thing that I use my technology for is to keep up with the things that I want to keep up with. Now, I could watch the local news; scour every website for information about the things I want to know. But that would take way too long. I have used RSS readers, and they’re neat. Applications like Google Reader  offer a great service to the people that choose to have their news brought to them. However, at times, Reader can be a bit overwhelming when feeds build up. It’s almost as if you’re drowning in the local television news show at six o’clock.

What I plan on presenting and talking about over the coming weeks are different mobile application that bring the news to the user, as RSS readers do, but with different variations that are visually more appealing, functionality is way better, and news is however long or short as you want it to be. There is a myriad of applications that allow great ways to stay connected to the news that the user chooses. Organization levels on these mobile apps is top notch and social media integration is a huge step forward for discovering new sources for information and new feeds to subscribe to. Once set up, these apps are powerful in helping people stay updated on important news in their interests. I can also imagine that people in the professional world could benefit from these apps as well. The news presented is tailored to fit the needs of the user.

I believe we are in the age of the user. The user controls the content and the buzz. RSS made a great leap in bringing in the idea of instant news with a click. These mobile applications have utilized RSS in a way that makes sense and that drastically improves on the way people get their news. A big reason why these new web 2.0 applications are so abundant and successful is because of their integration with today’s social media. Every story, every feed, every source can be shared to almost every platform with a single click. Facebook can be your library, Twitter can be your newspaper, Instagram can be your magazine. These app developers have realized this and aimed at creating applications that tie everything together. I think almost all of these applications are very useful in everyday experience and it makes news reading enjoyable again. It gives the people waiting in line for coffee, the lunch breakers, the students and teachers an alternative to reading their news in less than a minute. Staying behind the current news is no longer an option and with the ease of learning new information it’s no wonder why mobile platforms are doing so well. Overall, I hope my reviews and recommendations are insightful and helpful, and even if you disagree with the use of these apps, learning about new technology is never a bad thing. These apps are not something that will change the news world, solve climate change, or fix the economy. But that’s not their goal. What they will do is provide the user with insight to any topic or subject they want at their command.

-AJ