Facebook Forgets Android As It Finally Announces "Paper" For iOS
This morning, Facebook took the wraps off of a brand new app of theirs. This one is named Paper and is likely to compete with the likes of Flipboard and Google Play Newsstand. This app and many others have been rumored for quite some time.
By Sadho Ram — 15 Jan 2014, 07:28 PM — Updated almost 11 years ago
Facebook wants to take news out of the News Feed. And it is doing so with its newly launched app "Paper".
With Paper, Facebook is trying to get you to use Facebook as a news source or aggregator. Paper introduces a full-screen, immersive experience that is distraction free, leaving you with only the content in front of your eyes.
Facebook unveiled its long-awaited mobile news reader app Thursday. Paper, as the app is called, will be available February 3.
Image via mshcdn.comYour Timeline is one section, with beautiful new image, video, and long-form post layouts. But you will also see sections for specific types of news that you’d like to follow from sports to politics to photography.
androidheadlines.com
Paper will not have ads at launch, and users will be able to subscribe to 19 different sections within the app.
Image via wordpress.comThere are stories from mainstream media along with content from “emerging voices.”
dailymail.co.ukIn terms of design, Paper looks quite beautiful
It seems almost like a mix of Flipboard, Google Currents, and Facebook Home, which is not necessarily a bad thing. There are pretty transitions, an uncluttered UI, and image-forward thinking all over the place.
telegraph.co.uk
The new app will surface content from 19 different "sections," including sports, tech, pop culture, and "LOL"
The app also has a "Newsfeed" section, which is the same News Feed users are accustomed to on the native apps, but with a new design.
Each section will have a rotating carousel of images across the top, and individual cards and stories below that image. The new app was specifically designed to look different than the native apps, and has larger images and content cards without the typical blue trim present on Facebook's native apps.
foxnews.com
Users will be able to select which sections they wish to subscribe to, and all content will be curated through a process that includes an algorithm and a human selection. For now, sections will not be personalized.
mashable.com
The app also has a preview feature for users to see what their posts will look like before they are shared on Paper. Anything shared on Paper will also appear on that user's Facebook News Feed in the native apps and on desktop.
Since the app isn't live until February 3, you’ll have to experience it through this video, here:
Oh, and did we mention that it’s on iPhone only? No word on an Android release. Good job Facebook, forgetting THE MOST POPULAR OPERATING SYSTEM on the planet, again.
Facebook Is Hiring Editors For Its Secret Mobile Newsreader, 'Paper'
Rumours of Facebook’s Flipboard-like news app have been swirling for a while and it has now emerged that the social networking website is actively seeking “editors” to curate its news product.
recode.net
Re/code has reported that Paper, Facebook’s top-secret app in the works will have editors suggesting which news stories you should be reading.
firstpost.com
The move comes as a pleasantly surprising one, given how the social networking website puts emphasis on algorithms for running the show and throwing up relevant stories on its News Feed.
mashable.com
According to people familiar with the matter, these editors will oversee around ten different news verticals on a wide range of topics, curating a mix of the “best stories” within each particular subject area for users to see. The Paper verticals will be filled with stories picked entirely by these editors.
Facebook is getting ready to launch a digital newspaper of sorts, and it's appropriately named "Paper," according to Recode
Re/code says it's currently unclear whether Paper will be a standalone app when it reaches Facebook's users; it may instead take the form of a web app optimized for mobile devices.
cnet.com
Paper could be delivered before the end of January, the blog reported.
recode.net
According to the site, Facebook's Paper and the Flipboard share a number of similarities
Both essentially act as aggregators of rich media content, displaying a mix of news stories from publications like the New York Times or the Washington Post, along with status updates from Facebook users — all in a visually stunning “paper-like” format hearkening back to a time before digital devices.
cnet.com
The product is part of a multi-year effort from the team behind the News Feed, Facebook’s rich stream of never-ending content that flows down the center of users’ pages, populated with a mix of status updates, shared news stories and paid advertising from companies.
recode.net
The site is reporting that the entire project is known as Project Reader, citing five unnamed sources familiar with the matter, spearheaded by Chris Cox, Facebook’s VP of product
Like many Facebook initiatives, the Reader project originally began years ago as an idea to completely overhaul the News Feed itself, but after numerous delays and design refreshes, the project was split into pieces.
cnet.comParts of the redesign made it into Facebook’s March refresh of the News Feed, according to three sources, when the team had not finished what would eventually turn into “Paper.”
in.com
While this initiative has been Cox’s pet project, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has also been directly involved (as he has final oversight over Facebook products), according to sources.
recode.net
We're midway through January, so if the rumored timetable is accurate, Facebook should be sharing more details on Paper before long
If the launch of Paper does indeed come in January, it will be the culmination of the News Feed team’s long slog toward finally shipping a finished product — something multiple sources said they had never expected to see the light of day.
cnet.com
Facebook spokeswoman Jessie Baker declined to comment, adding, “We do not comment on rumors and speculation.”
recode.net