Google introduced Currents, a news reading app that’ll compete with Flipboard, LiveStand and Zite. The app has a magazine-like interface that looks surprisingly nice for a Google product. The overall layout is nice and the articles are formatted to look fantastic on the small screen.
The app launched with a handful of partners whose content is pre-loaded into the app. IntoMobile is part of this inner circle, and you can find our stories in the Science and Tech category. If you want news from outside sources, you can search for the website manually and add the site’s RSS feed. Currents uses your Google login to store your library preferences, but the app doesn’t pull content your Google Reader account.
You can choose to read stories from your Library or browse breaking news headlines from the trending category. As expected, the app is tied closely to Google + and you can easily +1 articles from within the app. You can also share them via email.
Overall, it’s a marvellous first effort for Google and will appeal to folks who already have a Google account. The Currents app is available in the US only. It’s free for download from the iOS App Store and the Android Market.
[Google]