This is the twenty-nineth article in the series App of the Week series.
I’m a news app junky. There are two main kinds of news apps, and I want to take a second to distinguish between them. The first are RSS Aggregators which allow you to pull from various services like Feedly, Feedbin, Google Reader (RIP), and others. Then there are news apps that will give you what you get, either from a collection of editors, social media sites, or articles grouped by topic. Circa News is one of those apps. Honestly, I’ve never been a fan of someone offering me something I didn’t ask for, so let’s see how Circa holds up.
The Good
I was pleasantly surprised to find all that I did inside of Circa.
- It’s App-solutely gorgeous. Circa is available on iOS and Android, and I always get a little nervous that I’ll get a repackaged iPhone app. Not the case here. Circa follows Android design guidelines and implements their UI and transitions flawlessly. I found myself scrolling left, right, up, and down needlessly to view the gorgeous transitions.
- Circa is like Twitter for News Apps News comes in bite size chunks that are easily digested. Subscribe to a topic for updates when they’re added, and sign in to sync across all your devices.
- Powerful Experience The experience of using the app is top notch. I am rarely impressed. I am thoroughly impressed with Circa.
The Bad
While I love what Circa offers, it is definitely in need of some upgrades.
- No Google Sign-in. Google’s APIs are fairly easy to implement. I don’t want to sign up for another service with another email and password. As a Google-ite, this is essential for a streamlined experience on Android.
- Lack of customization. The options available in the settings area are helpful and good, but options for colored accents and a dark theme would help it feel like “my news app” instead of just “a news app.” Font resizing would be a great addition here as well.
- Not using Android’s ecosystem to it’s fullest. While the UI is great, I have become use to long pressing and discovering useful actions like sharing, mark as read, and so on that just aren’t there in Circa.
What apps do you use for news and article intake? Are bite-sized chunks of info helpful to you in your busy ministry schedule?
[…] Circa- A different kind of RSS reader. Great for those who are super busy. It’s kind of like Twitter for news. More about Circa right here. […]