I miss newspapers and magazines. I know they still exist, but I rarely head to the newsstand to get my daily dose of news, fashion advice and movie reviews. Why purchase a copy of the San Francisco Chronicle, Vogue or Entertainment Weekly when I can easily find all the articles I want to read online, right? (Okay, the September issue is a different story, but you get the idea.)
If you’re like me and think there’s something beautiful about newspaper and magazine layouts, but love being able to access all your news from a few swipes on your iPhone, check out these 10 awesome apps.
1. Flipboard: Flipboard brings your world news and social updates together in a kind of digital magazine. After selecting a few topics of interest, you can immediately start flipping through news stories, your friends’ Facebook posts and Instagram photos, YouTube videos and more. And what’s really cool about Flipboard’s latest release is that you can make your own “magazine” on any given topic with posts and stories you find while flipping through the app’s choices for you. (Image via Wired)
2. Taptu: Taptu lets you “DJ your news,” collecting stories and posts from your favorite web sites, blogs and social networks. The design of Taptu is what makes the app really attractive — it essentially transforms your feeds into beautiful visual streams that you can rename, color code and sync to any number of devices and platforms. Taptu, you had me at color code.
3. Material: Material discovers fresh content based on what you already enjoy reading and then delivers you your top stories in two daily editions. Just sign in with Twitter or Facebook and Material’s algorithms will use your interests and social media activity to curate news stories on everything from fashion, art and design, to technology and business, to more obscure topics like cycling. (Image via Pocket-Lint)
4. Zite: Another digital magazine, Zite is designed to help you discover interesting things to read. What’s awesome about this app is that it learns what you like and gets smarter as you use it. If you’re obsessed with a certain columnist or constantly share Brit + Co. pieces on the best DIY costumes, then Zite will make sure you never miss a column or similar Halloween-inspired post.
5. News360: If you don’t want to mix your news stories with your cousin’s Facebook statuses and your boyfriend’s Instagrams, consider News360. The free app is focused entirely on aggregating your news. When you download it, you’ll choose from a long list of topics that News360 will then use to present your top stories in a beautiful, image-filled interface. (Image via Google Play Store)
6. Pulse News: This Steve Jobs-endorsed news app brings all your favorite blogs, magazines, social networks and newspapers in one place. Not only can you find stories from your favorite publications in Pulse, but you can subscribe to those publications right in the app.
7. Circa: Circa has a unique approach to aggregating your headlines. The company has a team of journalists on staff covering each day’s top new stories. It’s their job to gather the top news and break each story down to the essentials with a straight-to-the-facts approach. This is the perfect app if you’re the kind of person who fervently avoids #longreads, but wants to know going on in the world while on-the-go. (Image via iOS Post)
8. Feedly: Since we all bid farewell to Google Reader earlier this year, Feedly has established itself as the go-to RSS reader. With its sleek design, this app is perfect for RSS lovers who are used to managing lists and feeds. Unlike many of the apps on this list, Feedly won’t provide article suggestions and recommendations based on your previous reads and interests, so if you’re looking for something that lets you curate your feed entirely, this is it.
9. Next Issue Magazine: A joint effort by some of the biggest publishers in the business, Next Issue gives users unlimited access to magazines published by Conde Nast, Hearst, Meredith, News Corp., and Time Inc. for a monthly subscription fee of $14.99. The app, only available on tablets at the moment, is designed to feel like you’re at a newsstand, where you can browse and purchase multiple titles in one place. (Image via iMore)
10. Pocket: Pocket’s been called the “DVR of the web,” and the name fits. Pocket was designed to help you save interesting articles, videos and more so you can enjoy them later. And Pocket integrates with hundreds of others apps including Twitter, and some of the favorites already here, like Flipboard, Taptu and Zite.
Did we miss your favorite news aggregating app? Let us know in the comments!