Outside of their official Facebook app, Facebook has had a rough go when it comes to the mobile scene. (HTC First, anyone?) The company is looking to change all that by launching a new app for iOS called Paper, which is a news aggregator of sorts.
Paper commands your device’s screen real estate and provides slick content delivery, throwing in articles and news and not just your status updates and friend’s baby pictures. The app will deliver news to users based on topics and categories that a user is interested in. Facebook’s design is pretty nice looking, with aesthetic touches that resemble Flipboard, making content consumption quick, easy and free of clutter.
Here’s what Facebook has to say about Paper:
Today, we’re introducing Paper, a new app that helps you explore and share stories from friends and the world around you.
Paper makes storytelling more beautiful with an immersive design and fullscreen, distraction-free layouts. We’ve also made it easier to craft and share beautiful stories of your own.
Your Paper is made of stories and themed sections, so you can follow your favorite interests. The first section in Paper is your Facebook News Feed, where you’ll enjoy inspiring new designs for photos, videos, and longer written posts. You can customize Paper with a choice of more than a dozen other sections about various themes and topics—from photography and sports to food, science and design. Each section includes a rich mix of content from emerging voices and well-known publications.
Storytelling and sharing have been reimagined in Paper to show stories at their best.
- Everything responds to your touch so you can pick up or thumb through stories with simple, natural movements
- You can tilt your phone to explore high-resolution panoramic photos from corner to corner, and see faces and other important details up close
- Fullscreen autoplay videos come to life and bring you deep into the action
- Beautifully detailed covers make it easy to spot articles from trusted publishers and decide what to read or watch.· Articles unfold in the app and appear fullscreen for a focused reading experience
- When you’re ready to tell your own story, you know exactly what your post or photo will look like because you see a live preview before you share it
Paper is the first product from Facebook Creative Labs, where we’re crafting new apps to support the diverse ways people want to connect and share. The app will be available for the iPhone in the US on February 3rd. For an early look, you can take a tour of Paper.
Paper will launch on iOS on February 3rd. If you want to check it out in action, hit the video below and head here to access a real-time tour of Paper.