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Feedly for Android scores 300 percent faster start time, raft of refinements
Google Reader stand-in Feedly has picked up a bounty of tweaks and features in its latest version, which just hit Google Play. Now in its 17th iteration, the app starts up 300 percent faster, boasts smoother scrolling, a retooled widget and a new discover section to peruse stories. Design buffs will be pleased to see improved fonts and a refined visual design geared towards readability. In addition, pro users will now be able to use an enhanced search to scour the entirety of their feeds. The minds behind Feedly have also given their application some future-proofing as well -- particularly for an era that includes smartwatches -- with optimizations for the Samsung Galaxy Gear and Android Kitkat. Unfortunately, details on what was fine-tuned for Google's upcoming operating system are MIA. Faithful iOS users can't get ahold of the updates just yet, but that should change shortly as the app will embark on the App Store approval process Friday.
Feedly embraces app development by opening up API to all
Feedly just got markedly more developer-friendly. The news aggregator has added a slew of new third-party apps to its platform and has also opened up its new cloud API to all interested parties, starting...now. According to a post on the company's blog, it enlisted 50 developers over the course of half a year to create an elastic programming interface that lets people create apps in less than a week. Interested developers can download the API at the source link below. You can also visit Feedly's page to check out the selection of currently available apps.
Rockmelt comes to Android with thumb-friendly navigation
Rockmelt brought its social news browsing to iOS back in 2012, with promises that the Android version was on the way. The company took its sweet time with the port, but it's here at last -- and with a few Android-only perks in return for the wait. While the core news aggregation remains intact, there's a new set of thumb navigation controls that makes sure tablet owners (or just those with giant smartphones) can read in comfort. Phone owners also get a landscape view similar to what their tablet brethren see and a set of elevator-like buttons help users of all kinds get back to articles after a refresh. The interface extras may not seal the deal by themselves, but they could tip the balance for those still undecided on a Google Reader alternative.
Yahoo, Twitter partnership brings tweets to your newsfeed
The ever-changing web portal that is Yahoo under Marissa Mayer will receive its next tweak with help from Twitter. In addition to providing summarized stories, Yahoo newsfeed will soon include occasional tweets based on your interests. Folks in the US can expect to see the change in the coming days across desktop and mobile versions of Yahoo -- just try to keep your excitement contained to 140 characters.
CNN acquires Zite, plans to operate as independent business
A week ago we reported on the rumors that CNN reportedly purchased iPad magazine app Zite, a magazine aggregater which collects news based on your personal preferences and presents it to you in a magazine-like format. Today, CNN confirmed those rumors. In a post on CNNTech, the company says it bought Zite and plans to operate it as an independent business. And yes, that means that Zite will continue to pull information from several sources -- not just CNN. The app will remain free and will launch without ads, though though you may expect that to change. While CNN does plan to make an Android version of Zite the company says the iPad will remain its "primary platform." While Zite will run as an independent business out of San Fransisco (CNN in headquartered in Atlanta) the cable company does plan to integrate Zite technology into its existing iOS apps. It was rumored that CNN paid up to US$25 million for magazine aggregater app, but the company declined to comment on the purchase price. Zite is a free download from the App Store. You can also read our review of the app here.
iPad Pulse Reader app goes from keynote hero to App Store zero thanks to NYT (update -- it's back!)
Pulse News Reader -- a news aggregating app for the iPad -- got itself the ultimate stamp of approval yesterday by being featured in Steve Jobs' keynote speech. A few hours later, however, Apple had removed the application from its App Store, following a complaint by the New York Times that it was infringing on its rights. Although Pulse collates publicly available RSS feeds, the fact it costs $4 a pop is being interpreted as a "commercial use" of those feeds, and therefore a violation of the New York Times and Boston Globe's Terms of Use. Its makers have said they'll be getting in touch with Apple and stripping out the offending content, but it's certainly a head scratcher of a decision by the news company. We wonder if this signals the start of a crusade against all paid RSS readers or if Pulse has something peculiarly intolerable about it. Visit the source link to read the complaint in full. Update: From what we're reading, it sounds like what the NYT is really complaining about is that its feeds are preloaded into Pulse, and that Pulse is using NYT content and images in its promotional materials, not that Pulse is a paid app. Seems like those are easy fixes -- we'll see what happens. Update 2: And it's back! As we guessed, it looks like all Pulse had to do was resubmit without preloading the NYT's RSS feed and take some new screenshots of different sites, so that's just peachy. Still, it's insanely troublesome that Apple's first response is to just pull apps without verifying any claims or allowing devs to respond -- your store is still broken, Steve, no matter what percentage of apps you're approving.
First Look: ZenNews brings the news cloud to your iPhone
Zensify announced its latest app, ZenNews [iTunes link], this morning. It's basically an intelligent news aggregator, using algorithms to find "what's hot" from a variety of sources including the New York Times, the Washington Post, Al Jazeera, the Guardian and more. It parses Twitter and other social mediums to figure out who's talking about what, and then creates a tag cloud of hot topics. There's an aggregated view combining all sources, or you can view a tag cloud for each source. You can toggle sources and/or categories on and off in the preferences. If a keyword in the tag cloud reveals more than 5 articles, tapping it will drill down into another tag cloud, repeated until the keyword returns a list of 5 or fewer articles. View articles within ZenNews using the built-in webkit browser, or open them in Safari. You can always switch from the tag cloud to a list view for any page, and there's a default view titled "All News" which lists all the aggregated news (in list format) at once. You can drill down to specific topics in the Categories view, and see what's new/hot from all enabled sources for a single category. As you read, you can mark any article as a favorite, and view a list of your marked articles in the Favorites view. You can quickly share articles via Twitter or email, as well. It's all quite slick, and pretty solid for a first release. I did run into a bug which would bring up blank tag cloud pages if a specific combination of being on a certain view and losing a network connection at the right time occurred. I spoke with the developers yesterday, and I'm confident they'll smooth out any wrinkles quickly. Zensify is offering ZenNews for free. Their plan is to demonstrate the buzz-detecting algorithms, and then offer white-label versions -- using a subscription model -- to companies with a need for up-to-the-minute buzz tracking. For the rest of us, this is a good-looking and, as far as I've been able to tell, accurate way to see what's happening in the world at any given moment. Check out the gallery below for a preview, and grab a copy on the App Store. %Gallery-75650%
It's true, iReddit on the iPhone
reddit, an open source social news aggregator which has garnered a loyal following, has come out with a very slick, very handy little iPhone app for their service. Actually, it's the third one -- according to their blog -- but this one's "official." iReddit brings you the news ... you don't even have to join reddit, your iPhone will start spewing stories of all caliber and ilk at you the moment you launch the app (fortunately, a free account will let you start filtering the stream). Don't tell the rest of the TUAW team -- many of whom were clamoring to post about iReddit -- but I'd never used reddit.com in any serious fashion until I got in on the iReddit beta. I'm now a frequent reader ... at least on my iPhone. The app itself is much like the website in layout. It's also elegant, responsive and heart-warmingly cute, the cuteness due in large part to the reddit mascot checking the time and tapping its toes while pages load. I'm quite serious when I say that it's one of the best "loading screens" I've ever had the pleasure of using. Articles open in the built-in browser, where you can read them, send them to Safari, e-mail a link, or save them to your reddit account. The team behind the app is none other than our friends from WWDC, 280 North. You may remember (or be using) their online presentation app, 280Slides. iReddit is another fine accomplishment on the 280 resume. Check it out at the App Store for $1.99US.
