Meet the iPad’s Newest Custom News Reader, Evri
There are plenty of news aggregators, or custom news reader, filling up the App Store. Coming up with something that is original is hard for developers to do. Evri manages to twist the process just enough to be the newest buzz for news readers. The twist being that it allows you to follow a topic instead of a source.
There are other customizable news readers out there that show you topics, but Evri makes that it’s exclusive feature, creating a simple way to keep track of subjects you are interested in.
If you want to know what is going on with the upcoming iPhone 5, you can follow that topic and read articles relating to the upcoming release or rumors about its capabilities. You won’t read articles about Apple Inc. or the iPad, those are different topics.
Major topics include top stories, U.S. and world news, entertainment, sports, business and technology. You can select any of the major topics from the colored tabs at the top of the screen. Within each major topic are subtopics. For example, when you select “Business” you will see topics such as Unemployment, Meg Whitman or Housing Market. If you follow Meg Whitman, any articles relating to her will be added to your favorites list (called “Now Following”).
Topics appear on screen as thumbnails. When you select a topic, one story will appear with the thumbnail image next to it. Trending news for that subject will be listed as featured articles. There are also related topics listed off to the side. For example, if you are reading about patents, you can also check out related news stories about Apple Inc, Nortel or the Toronto Stock Exchange. If you swipe the screen, you will see 15 to 20 articles relating to a specific topic.
You can’t read the entire article from the thumbnail screens. You must read an article from the website it was originally posted. If you tap the “read” icon, you will be directed to the story by visiting the website from within the app. Once you are finished reading, you can close the Web and be redirected to the thumbnail page.
The user interface is smooth and uncomplicated. You can share articles through Facebook, Twitter or email. You can also save articles for offline reading through Read It Later and Instapaper. Stories are updated every 15 minutes, so you can keep on top of the latest news.
What I liked: Being able to follow a specific topic without any other noise is helpful if you are interested in a particular subject. You don’t have to search through 12 different articles to see if anyone wrote about Gears of War.
What I didn’t like: I don’t like that you can’t read the entire story in the app. Having to read it from the original website makes it seem like you are just browsing the Internet.
To buy or not to buy: The fact that it is free makes it a great app. It does not fulfill my news discovery needs, but it can be a handy way of reading about specific topics. Pick it up in the App Store to see if it is right for you.
- App Name: Evri for iPad
- Version Reviewed: 1.0.219
- Category: News
- Developer: Evri Inc.
- Price: Free
- Score:
