Pulse News Reader for iPad Review

Will third party apps make the iPad like they did the iPhone?

I remember back in 2007 getting my shiny new iPhone, I think I played with it half to death. Looking through the fancy menus, setting up my email looking through the app store then eventually got the point where I was bored. There were only a few things I could do right out-of-the-box.

Luckily we didn’t have to wait long before the great quality apps started to pour through Apple’s App Store. App’s like Airshare, Facebook, Tweetie and FlightControl made the iPhone more than a phone. I believe this is where we are today.

The iPad reminds me of how the iPhone was then; shiny, new and basic. Just like the iPhone it’s setup just how I want it, and I’m now waiting for the apps that will make this device special. I haven’t had to wait long.

Made by Stanford University students Ashkay Kothari and Ankit Gupta, the first of many quality apps to come to the iPad is a simple yet powerful newsreader - Pulse for iPad. Having launched only a few weeks ago the press surrounding the app has been phoenominal. Everyone iPad owner the country has probably downloaded this app and added Digg.com to its list of feeds.

In a nutshell the app allows you to index up to 20 websites, each entered either by your Google Reader account, RSS or website address. Once entered you get your websites showing one per row, and one article per columns; A bit like a Spreadsheet. Each ‘cell’ represents a article and within it, you’ll see only the headline and image.

Using your finger you can slide up and down to view the other websites in your list, or left and right to see the articles within a given website. This makes navigating through your favourite websites quick and easy.

Once you find an article you want to read, click it. This’ll open the article in one of two modes:

The first mode displays the article with little or no formatting. You’re seeing the content with the style that the app applies to it, not the website. It gives uniformity to each article you open and makes it extremely easy to read. Whilst applying the basic styles to the content, it’ll display one image that it cleverly pulls from the website. This image relates directly to the article. Good stuff! It’ll also remove the ads, website navigation and other elements from the article web page.

The second mode is much more familiar.  You see the article on a web page as if it were Safari. This is fantastic because you still get the full web experience (well, mostly) and you also get the ease of navigating between articles and websites that Pulse for iPad offers you.

When rotated, the view dynamically changes to suit the orientation, similar in style to Mail.

Pro’s: An easy to use app with the flexibility only a tablet PC could deliver, quick and cheap.
Con’s: Only available on the iPad, limited to 20 websites at one time.
Launched: 31st May 2010
Price: £2.39/$3.99

Overall this is the iPad’s first must-have app. If your fortunate to have an iPad, you must buy Pulse News Reader.