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BREAKING NEWS & VIEWS
Macworld Daily Reader for iPad Blends App and Web WorldsWednesday, January 26, 2011 An app is not a Web site, the mantra goes in mobile design circles. Nor, for that matter, do many .PNG) Web sites really look or play well on the touch interfaces that smartphones and especially tablets introduced only a few years ago. Apps tend to have a stronger design sense and are optimized for touch, while Web sites and Web apps may be less elegant but benefit from dynamic content. Macworld’s novel and highly usable Daily Reader app for the iPad successfully blends app and Web worlds. The app formats and curates for the iPad user the best new and popular content that Macworld editors are pouring online, but it does so in a way that looks more polished and touch-friendly than a Web site.The Reader has a number of intriguing elements on its load page that engage the user. A Live View drop down aggregates all of the latest content generated by Macworld editors, including their Twitter posts, new columns and reviews. This feature is for the brand loyalist who just wants the latest word. An interactive box pulls together a tab-controlled menu of the latest content in the Apps, Hardware and Software category so that each list scrolls through the latest articles in a handsome wheel style. The entire app is divided into separate sections on Mac, Business Center, Digital Photo, etc, that are accessible by an expandable top line lateral scroll or simply by swiping through the sections. The design smartly features the editor’s picks of best content on each page but also puts the remaining relevant content into a scroll of headlines in a bottom window. In this way, the design has the appeal of curated content but offers the completeness of a raw news feed. In fact, the strength of the app is that it splits the difference so well between magazine app and Web site or just a repurposed news feed. In much the way that WSJ, USAToday and even Flipboard manage to pull together feeds of real-time content into a richer touch experience, MacWorld Daily Reader similarly charts an interesting space for dynamically updated app content. The project shows that an app can be more like a Web site but retain the unique, engaging feel of a tablet app. The app also lets you save articles, recommend them or forward them through the usual social media means. We would like to see more multimedia in the app. The initial app load time is also mysteriously long. The app secured a sole launch sponsor in Epson, which has an attractive interactive ad unit accessible from banners on every page of Macworld Daily Reader.  If you have breaking news to share please contact Steve Smith at ssmith@accessintel.com
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Also sharing links simply invite people to get the App rather than the article on a website..