Flipboard

Flipboard is a news aggregator and social network aggregation company based in Palo Alto, California, with offices in New York, Vancouver and Bejiing. Its software, also known as Flipboard, was first released in July 2010. It aggregates content from social media, news feeds, photo sharing sites and other websites, presents it in magazine format, and allows users to "flip" through the articles, images and videos being shared. Readers can also save stories into Flipboard magazines. As of March 2016 the company claims there have been 28 million magazines created by users on Flipboard. The service can be accessed via web browser, or by a Flipboard application for Microsoft Windows and macOS, and via mobile apps for iOS and Android. The client software is available at no charge and is localized in 21 languages.

Flipboard
Developer(s)Mike McCue and Evan Doll
Initial releaseJuly 21, 2010 (2010-07-21)
Stable release
Android4.2.34 / February 10, 2020 (2020-02-10)[1]
iOS4.2.59 / October 26, 2019 (2019-10-26)[2]
Operating systemiOS, Android, Windows, Windows Phone
Size9.63 MB (Android); 115.4 MB (iOS)
TypeSocial-network aggregation
Alexa rank 8,350 (Global,October 2019)[3]
Websiteflipboard.com

History

Flipboard was originally launched exclusively for iPad in 2010. It launched the iPhone and iPod Touch versions seventeen months later in December 2011.

The company raised more than $200 million in funding from investors, including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Index Ventures, Rizvi Traverse Management, and Insight Venture Partners,[4] and an additional $50 million from JPMorgan Chase in July 2015.[5][6]

Original Flipboard logo, in use until 2018

On May 5, 2012, Flipboard was released for Android phones, beginning with the Samsung Galaxy S3.[7] On May 30, 2012 a beta version of Flipboard for Android was released through its website.[8] A final stable release of the Flipboard for Android was released on June 22, 2012 in Google Play.[9] The Windows 8 version of the Flipboard app was also demonstrated during the Microsoft 2013 Build Conference and on the Flipboard blog with a video, although no release date was given.[10][11] On October 22, 2014, Flipboard for Windows 8 was rolled out to Windows Phone devices starting with the Nokia Lumia 2520.[12]

In March 2014, Flipboard bought Zite, a magazine-style reading app, from the CNN television network. Flipboard's content filtering, topic engine and recommendations system were integrated from this acquisition.[13][14] Zite was shut down on December 7, 2015.[15]

In February 2015, Flipboard became available on the web. Up until then, Flipboard was a mobile app, only available on tablets and mobile phones. The web client provides webpage links on desktop browsers, and lacks some features of the client software.[16]

In February 2017, Flipboard updated their mobile apps for iOS and Android to 4.0, which brought a full redesign to the application, and implemented new features such as smart magazines, which allow users to bundle different things together, such as various news sources, people, and hashtags.[17][18]

On May 29, 2019, Flipboard disclosed a security breach that affected an unspecified number of users between June 2, 2018 and March 23, 2019, and April 21 and 22, 2019, where customer databases including information, such as encrypted passwords and access tokens for third-party services, were accessible to an unauthorized party. All passwords and authentication tokens for third-party services are being reset, although Flipboard noted that almost all passwords were hashed using the strong bcrypt algorithm (except for some using the insecure and obsolete SHA-1 algorithim, replaced by the service in 2012), and there was no evidence that the access to tokens was abused.[19]

Reception

The reaction to the application was mainly positive, with Techpad calling it a "killer" iPad application.[20] Time Magazine named it one of the 50 best inventions of 2010.[21] Apple reviewed Flipboard positively, and named the application Apple's "iPad App of the Year" in 2010.[22] When a new update of the software added more features such as support for Google Reader, a web-based aggregator, and content from more publishers, the app received a favorable review from the Houston Chronicle.[23]

Censorship

On May 15, 2011, Flipboard was blocked by the Great Firewall of China. McCue said on his Twitter feed – "China has now officially blocked Flipboard."[24]

The company then released its first edition localised for China. Beginning in February 2015, the company started self-censoring users using the application from China. The content guide for China does not include Twitter and Facebook anymore. Existing subscriptions for Twitter or Facebook are also automatically removed.[25]

User interface

The application's user interface is designed for intuitive flipping through content. Once the feeds have been set up, the first page seen when the application is opened is a list of the subscribed content. The iPhone and Android versions have a "Cover Stories" section on the first page collating only the most recent, important items from all of the subscriptions.[26] This is meant to be read when the user only has a short period of time for reading.[27]

See also

References
  1. "Flipboard - Latest News, Top Stories & Lifestyle APKs". APKMirror. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  2. "Flipboard - Latest Stories". App Store. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  3. "Alexa - Flipboard Competitive Analysis, Marketing Mix and Traffic". www.alexa.com. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  4. "Crunchbase Funding Rounds". crunchbase. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
  5. "Flipboard Confirms New $50M Funding Round From JP Morgan". Techcrunch. July 24, 2015.
  6. Lynley, Matthew; Lunden, Ingrid. "Flipboard Confirms New $50M Funding Round From JP Morgan". TechCrunch. TechCrunch. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  7. "Flipboard Inc announces Android release". Twitter. Flipboard Inc. Retrieved May 3, 2014.
  8. Velazco, Chris (May 30, 2014). "Flipboard Officially Opens Up Their Android Beta To Interested Testers". TechCrunch. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
  9. Perez, Sarah (June 22, 2014). "Flipboard Officially Launches On Android, Adds Google+, YouTube And More Localized Versions". TechCrunch. Retrieved June 23, 2014.
  10. Warren, Tom (June 26, 2014). "Official Facebook and Flipboard apps coming to Windows 8". The Verge. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
  11. "Flipboard Is Coming to Windows". Flipboard. June 26, 2013. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
  12. Warren, Tom (October 22, 2013). "Flipboard for Windows 8: a Live Tile twist similar to Android and iOS". The Verge. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
  13. "Flipboard Is Buying Zite From CNN In A Deal Valued Up To $60M, After CNN Bought It For Around $20M 3 Years Ago". TechCrunch. AOL. March 5, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
  14. Ken Yeung. "Flipboard adds more Zite technology to its platform to help you fine-tune the content you see". VentureBeat. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
  15. "Zite will shut down on December 7, asks users to migrate data to Flipboard - VentureBeat - Apps - by Ken Yeung". VentureBeat. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
  16. Crider, Michael (February 10, 2015). "Flipboard Expands Its Curated News Service To The Desktop With New Website". Android Police.
  17. "Announcing the All-New Flipboard, the Place for All Your Passions". Flipboard. February 8, 2017. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  18. Mossberg, Walt (February 8, 2017). "Mossberg: Flipboard redesigns itself around "smart" digital magazines". The Verge. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  19. Cimpanu, Catalin. "Flipboard says hackers stole user details". ZDNet. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  20. "Flipboard – A Killer App for the iPad". TechPad. October 1, 2010. Archived from the original on May 14, 2012. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
  21. McCracken, Harry (November 11, 2010). "The 50 Best Inventions of 2010 - TIME". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
  22. Yarow, Jay (December 9, 2010). "Apple Calls Flipboard 'iPad App of the Year'. Business Insider. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
  23. Silverman, Dwight (December 16, 2010). "Flipboard: A Killer iPad App Gets Even Better". TechBlog (of the Houston Chronicle). Retrieved March 4, 2012.
  24. Wee, Willis (May 15, 2011). ""China has officially blocked Flipboard," says CEO". Tech in Asia. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  25. Jason (circa February 2012). "China – Flipboard Stopped Working". Flipboard forum post. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
  26. "Flipboard - Best News Apps". mustips.com.
  27. "What Are Cover Stories? Tap Here to Find Out". flipboard.com.

Further reading
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