Creators of social magazine app Flipboard have today announced a major new version that introduces new features which add to the app’s magazine-like experience and let the readers become the editors.
As well as new features, Flipboard 2.0 also has new content from added partner Etsy. Optimised, flippable content from the Etsy blog can now be viewed in the app, which is also integrated with the site’s shopping cart, allowing users to make purchases directly from Flipboard.
Other new features include search results that appear in a magazine-style layout, and a more visual content guide that gives users an overview of their whole Flipboard.
This will no longer just include magazines generated by Flipboard, though, as the new version now allows users to collect and save articles, photos, audio and video in their own magazine creations. Users can draw from any source on Flipboard or use the new ‘Flip it’ bookmarklet to add content discovered on the web.
“With more than 50m users, Flipboard is used every day as a place to catch up on the things you care about,” said Flipboard CEO Mike McCue. “But, starting now, it’s also a great place to share opinions, save favourite stories, and express your point of view. This is our biggest release ever and one that we think will open an entirely new experience for our readers.”
Users’ magazines can be made private or public for sharing with other users on Flipboard and beyond. A ‘By Our Readers’ section in the content guide will bring up a selection of users’ creations, which so far includes staff and friends of Flipboard that have been testing the new features. In the coming weeks, Flipboard hopes to highlight new users’ creations here, as well as in the ‘New & Noteworthy’ section.
Additional features for Flipboard 2.0 include faster section switching, personalised lists of recommended reads, comments with @mentions for other users, a notifications system to alert users of interactions with other users, and optional Facebook Open Graph integration to share Flipboard activity on your timeline.
Flipboard 2.0 is available now for iOS with an Android update expected soon.
