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News Republic Review for iPhone / iPod Touch and Android – Filtering News the Fun Way

In one way or another we all hunt for the most exciting, interesting, thought provoking, life changing, historic news content. There are various ways of resolving this hunger and apps provide an often pleasing navigational experience that is hard to match.

News Republic available on both the Apple iPhone and Google Android aims to list various news topics be it business, celebrity, Entertainment, Sports and more in such a way that it dilutes the anguish of endlessly searching while still offering a range that satisfies the soul.

News sources include AFP, Associated Press, eWeek, ITN, Tech Rader and quite a few others although sadly you can’t add your own news favourites which limits the app a little as I would have loved to include the BBC, Sky News and so on although at least it saves you fiddling around with RSS feeds.

Even with this limitation, News Republic presents the latest revelations in a clear manner that can be easily navigated and filtered to your heart’s content. Locating one news story can lead you to another, and another until you leave the app fully satisfied you are on the cutting edge of current affairs. News items can be saved for either later reading or possibly because it was just a jolly good read. Stories can also be emailed, tweeted or posted on Facebook to share the latest goings on around the world. Articles can even be voted for and these scores help other users locate the best news stories of the day.

All news items are presented in a mobile-friendly manner that is consistent and allows for faster loading times. Images are carefully placed and when selected fill the screen. Other news items can be quickly accessed by simply sliding your finger across the screen horizontally. News Republic can also be read either in portrait or landscape modes.

News can be filtered by various options, obviously by topic but further by date, by number of votes and by views. If you want to go that extra mile though, you can trigger a tag universe view that can be rotated until you find something of interest to you personally. Pressing this same function within a news item will list tags that are relevant to the article, helping you identify alternative sources and other items that may relate to your current pursuit for information. You can also create your own section that is best aimed at your personal news preferences, giving you a starting point to quickly present the information that is of interest to you.

As a free app, News Republic has a small banner but nothing that will get in the way or upset your news viewing experience. If you wish to navigate ‘Ad free’, then you do have that option if you are willing to shell out a few pounds.

News Republic also offers an Android Tablet version, although unfortunately there is no dedicated iPad version of the app as of yet, so I hope the developers address this oversight in the very near future.

Conclusion

You may have heard of the old saying “No news is good news”, however after using News Republic, you will consider this thought nonsensical and dive straight into your lust for the latest gossip and information.

It would have been nice to have been given a little more customisation, however News Republic offers an extremely pleasant way of searching for and filtering news content from multiple sources and best of all it’s free.

[xrr rating=4/5]

iTunes App Store Link: News Republic
Android Marketplace Link: News Republic
Android Marketplace Link (Tablet edition): News Republic

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James Woodcock

James is a Freelance Journalist, Copywriter, Author, Blogger & Podcaster specialising in gaming, gadgets and technology, both retro and modern. Ever since he experienced the first controllable pixel movement on the television screen, he has been entranced by the possibilities and rewarding entertainment value generated from these metal and plastic boxes of delight. Writing hundreds of articles, including commentary and reviews on various gaming platforms, whilst also interviewing well-known industry figures for popular online publications. Creator of the ScummVM Music Enhancement Project and host of the Game & Gadget Podcast. View his portfolio for more information.

James Woodcock has 1087 posts and counting. See all posts by James Woodcock

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