Smartphones can be used for all kinds of things, but they shine when they inform themselves daily and quickly: they are our best assets to overcome boredom or easily increase our knowledge of the world.
But sometimes, websites may not be adapted to the specific format of smartphones and tablets or lack a bit of appeal. The best RSS feed readers therefore tend to convert them completely.
And among them is one that has stood out for years: Flipboard, which turns your favorite websites into a powerful multi-functional magazine. Today we will teach you exactly how to master it.
- Unusual: Origin of Flipboard and many other apps’ logos
create your account
Of course you have to start from the beginning. Download the app flipboard and install it on your smartphone or tablet. As soon as you arrive, the app will suggest you create an account. This is very important as it will allow you to keep your configurations even if you change your phone.
The first step will ask you to choose the core content that will be used to populate your Flipboard from the first launch. By clicking Next, you will be able to access the creation of accounts. Note that you can also log in using your Google or Facebook account.
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Connect your social networks
The main advantage of Flipboard is its extensive integration with social networks. Thus, you will be able to integrate your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn feeds and many more into your own magazine and easily share them. Connecting with these services also allows you to easily find magazines created by your friends.
To do this, go to the followed journals menu (square icon). In the third “Accounts” tab, you will be able to select your network and connect to it. With this, all of your posts and links shared with you will be listed on Flipboard.
To find your friends, go to the Account menu “man icon” and press the + button in the top left. You can now see your friends’ posts and follow them directly, or log in if you haven’t already.
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Rearrange or delete your sources
Flipboard’s interface is pretty simple: the homepage lets you see the most read news on the platform, while the square-shaped menu gives you access to the magazines you follow. For example, you’ll find the themes you’ve subscribed to or the feeds of each network you’ve added.
If you want to rearrange or delete your sources, press and hold one of them and drag it to where you want it to appear. If you want to get rid of it, simply drag it to the trash that appears on the left.
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Add a new feed
The app works like an RSS feed reader, except it preloads the best web resources for you. To find them, simply click on the central magnifying glass.
You can subscribe directly to one of the main topics offered (in the case of “Technology”) or search for a topic that is close to your heart (in the case of “Android”). This will find all the sites that are interested in this theme and let you subscribe to them.
However, if you can’t find it, know that it’s entirely possible to type the URL of an RSS feed directly into the search bar. Then you can easily find your source by clicking on “Social network results”.
Save an article to read later
Of course, habits have changed and now we don’t have time to read articles directly beyond the headlines. Flipboard also thought of these users.
It allows you to save an article for later reading in such dedicated services: Instapaper, Pocket and Readability. To do this, simply keep pressing an article and select the “Read later” option before choosing the service that interests you.
Refine your feed and block content
Generally speaking, Flipboard automatically fetches news with “most clicks” so you can get the biggest news of the day. However, all these may not be to your taste. Fortunately, the app has thought of that.
To optimize your feed even better, all you have to do is keep clicking on a story. You can then select the “improve option” in the options menu. A new window opens that allows you to assign thumbs to the post.
Thanks to these thumbs, you’ll be able to point it out that you want more or less of the same type of content. And what’s more, you will be able to block a particular resource if you find it intrusive. If you did this by mistake, you can unblock them by going to Settings > blocked resources.
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Change the country of origin of feeds
Are you bilingual or interested in news that is less local and more international? Therefore, you will be tempted to change regions to have the most popular news in another country.
To do this, go to your profile page and click on the gear to access the app settings. Once in this menu, simply click on “Regions” and select another region of the world.
When changes are made, the news presented in the search tab will completely change and your homepage will adapt to this new selection. Perfect for tracking foreign policy, for example!
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Create your own magazine
Of course, not everything is complete without the possibility to create your own magazine! The interest is multiple: Whether it’s storing information for later rereading or starting your own stream with the best of the internet, owning your own Flipboard can quickly become addictive.
Nothing could be simpler: when you see a story you like, simply click the little “+” sign in the bottom right to add it to a post. Select “new” if it has not been created yet.
The app will suggest you give a title for your magazine and write a short introduction. You can then choose whether to make this magazine public or not. If it’s public, your friends and Flipboard community members can also subscribe to it.
Why be a magazine special? As you can use the function to remember clothing styles to wear, travel destinations to visit or advice on how to live better with your hemorrhoids. In short, it’s not necessarily information we want to share with everyone.
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There you go, you are now ready to use Flipboard with all its capabilities! Whether it’s to keep you up to date with news or to share your own articles and publications, it’s a very powerful tool that we recommend you master!
