Overnight, the long awaited Flipboard app released for Windows 8.1. When I was all hopped-up on Android devices a couple years ago, Flipboard was truly the very best app for reading news and social network threads. But, after loading it up on my Windows 8.1 tablet, I now realize that either my needs have changed, or I've been using Discourse for so long that Flipboard just seems a bit so-so.
You might think my feelings about Flipboard have something to do with the implementation of the app on Windows 8.1's metro interface, but that has nothing to do with it. The Flipboard experience on Windows 8.1 is stellar. It's quick and fluid, providing the exact same UI experience found on Android and iOS. But, it's still not enough to displace my time spent using Discourse.
Still, I've loaded the app and will probably keep it to use during those quiet moments when the toast alerts and Live Tiles are silent for a brief period of time. Just like the Android and iOS counterparts, it offers the following features:
- Create your own custom magazine by sharing favorite stories to your own magazine. And, once you create your magazine, you can share it with friends.
- Use the Search function to locate anything on the web to create your own custom magazines using the feeds it finds. This is a cool feature. Search for 'WindowsITPro' and go ahead and add us to your own custom magazine.
- Flipboard supports 12 social networks (including Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn, allowing you to catch up on your personal feeds directly in the app. You can also comment, like, and share.
- The Cover Stories feature generates a main page that is customized automatically based on your interaction within the app. So, the longer you use Flipboard, the smarter and more useful it becomes.
- Flipboard includes hundreds of hand-picked resources you can pick from to get started quickly.
Check it out in the Windows App Store: Flipboard
Note that Flipboard ONLY works on Windows 8.1. It's not available to use on the original Windows 8 release.
