4 iOS, Android Apps to Discover New, Interesting Content

In this age of connected devices, we don’t go looking for new content, we expect it to come to us. That’s why we’re spending more time on our Twitter timelines, Facebook news feeds and the Reddit front page.

If you want to be served with new and interesting things to read or maybe new sources of inspiration for your next design project or your next app, then the apps listed below will help you out.

1. Flyne: The Offline Reader For Android

Flyne (Free) is one of the few Android apps I’d give the distinction of being beautiful. It looks great whether you’re looking at it on a budget phone like Moto E or a flagship like Galaxy S5 with a full HD display.

Flyne is a free app with paid upgrades. The free app will source content from different websites and Twitter accounts, and present them to you in different categories. You can subscribe to topics you like and your feed will populate with relevant content.

Flyne is also a “minimal” reader. Meaning that the content you see is the same as an RSS feed or what you find in Pocket. The articles are stripped off of any formatting or ads. All you get is one header image and the text.

Sometimes this limitation of only one image per article can be crippling, especially when you’re reading a technical article. But on the flip side, everything on Flyne is available offline. So you can sync when you have Wi-Fi or data connection and keep reading when you’re on the Subway or just off the grid.

Flyne has paid upgrades that will integrate links shared by people you follow on Twitter. This can be a great way to discover new content where you don’t have to go looking for things. The app will also let you integrate with RSS via another in app purchase.

2. Interesting For iPhone

Interesting for iPhone ($1.99) is a simple app that indexes interesting content in 5 different categories. The list is updated every 5 minutes and you can even browse Reddit or Dribble in the app.

The subtle use of animations, the beautiful typeface and the general snappiness of the app make it great for consuming content quickly. The app lets you save links to Pocket (but not Instapaper for some reason).

The Design and Technology category is the default view for the app and it’s where I spend most of my time. You can swipe from the left edge to access more categories like Entertainment and TV, News and Politics, Sports, Dribble and Reddit.

3. The News For iPhone

I’ve been on the lookout for a good app to browse Hacker News for quite a while now. With The News my conquest has finally ended.

The News (Free) is a minimal app that does only two things – presents you the top links for Hacker News and Designer News in one good looking interface. If you’ve tried browsing Hacker News on mobile Safari you know the experience is far from pleasant.

You can log in to both websites individually, swipe right to up vote or down vote content, swipe left to leave a comment or just read the linked websites in the built-in browser or share it to a number of read later services for later consumption.

4. Medium For iPhone And iPad

If you’re after new, offbeat content, the type you normally wouldn’t discover, Medium (Free) is the right place for you. And their app for iPhone and iPad is just gorgeous.

Medium’s website is already one of the best looking websites on the internet. And all the elements like fullscreen header images and the interplay between different types of typography translate wonderfully on the iPhone and iPad. Sign up with your Twitter account, follow some topics and collections and you’ll have a feed consisting of rich content recommended by Medium’s editors and your friends on Twitter.