Elijah Ketchum
Flipboard, the ever-popular iOS newsreader, was supposed to be coming to Android via the Galaxy S III. Not a stupid decision on the developers of Flipboard’s part, as the device locked in 9 million preorders. However, the Android community made sure that the Flipboard for Android application was successfully leaked and made available to everyone. And it worked surprisingly well.
The reason Flipboard decided to release their app on one major device was to make sure that it ran perfectly because apps like Flipboard bank on gorgeous visuals. But Flipboard did fine on most people’s phones, and after an OTA update the devs rolled out it ran even better, and I’ve actually been using it on a few of my devices since. Now that the GSIII has (sort of) launched across the globe, Flipboard is even closer to making their app officially available to all Android devices. They are going to publish a very strict beta that will allow users to find any remaining bugs, report them, and help Flipboard get everything nice and polished.
Android fragmentation makes it hard for developers to make sure their apps work the way they are supposed to on all devices, so it’s not uncommon that we see betas, public or private, to help them make sure things are running smoothly. In this case, Flipboard has made a lot of right decisions by keeping users in check with a “beta” tag, and not pushing an “official release” until they know they are ready for one. The Flipboard APK is all over the interwebs right now, but you can grab the official download here (directly from the Flipboard team) if you don’t already have it.
