There is so much to read online on different websites that it is difficult to keep up with everything. Actually, the time when you just read the news in your newspaper on the couch was much easier. Relive those times with Flipboard, the app that converts your social content into a real magazine.
The idea behind Flipboard is as simple as it is brilliant. The app itself does not provide any content at all, but takes all the information from the web (from both news sites and from your own social media) and collects it in a manageable format that you can browse through. You'll eventually have to leave the app if you want to interact, but it's a great way to quickly browse online content that interests you.
create an account
Download the free Flipboard app from the App Store. When you start this app for the first time, you need to create an account. You can do this by manually entering all your details, or you can press Sign up with Facebook, which copies all your data from Facebook. Especially if you're already planning to connect your social media to Flipboard anyway, signing up with Facebook is a step that will save you some time.
The fastest way to create an account is to log in with your Facebook account.
Link accounts
We will immediately complete the registration by linking our other social media accounts as well. Ignore the front page for now, and flip it over (swipe from right to left). Now press the red icon with the dashes at the top right and then Accounts. You can now add an account by choosing a service from the long list of social media. To link the account you must log in with your details. Now close the Flipboard app (so we can start from scratch).
In addition to Facebook, you can also link a variety of other accounts.
The front page
Now, when you restart the Flipboard app, you'll be taken to the front page. That front page is interesting, because it shows a selection of the current content of your Flipboard app. This is presented as a real magazine cover, with the main difference that the content refreshes. The cover is a handy page to see at a glance whether there is anything interesting to read online.
The front page is just like a 'real' magazine, but interactive.
The interface
Now when you turn the front page, you will land on the main interface of Flipboard. This is a bit like the table of contents of a magazine. At the top you'll find a search box that allows you to search for keywords, but the main way to use Flipboard is to browse through the rubrics. By default, a number of categories are selected for you. All those boxes and boxes can make you feel like it's all too much to handle, but remember, they're just headings, just like in a magazine.
By means of the 'table of contents' you can browse to the sections of your choice.
Read Flipboard magazine
An interesting section to start with is Featured. Since you have only just opened Flipboard, you have not yet made a selection of rubrics that interest you, and in the rubric Featured Flipboard shows you interesting stuff, selected by the creators of the app.
Press the heading and scroll through the pages. Now you will probably discover why Flipboard is so useful, because it really reads like a magazine. The longer you work with Flipboard, the Featured be more adapted to your taste.
A selection of articles handpicked by Flipboard is a great way to get started.
Facebook magazine
For example, if you have added your Facebook and Twitter accounts, you will also see these two categories. That doesn't seem interesting, because how can status updates be interesting to read in magazine form?
You will be surprised because once you press facebook, you'll see complete articles from the pages you've 'liked' interspersed with short status updates, photos and videos from your friends. If you press the Facebook option at the top, you can also only display your own timeline, photos, etc. as a magazine.
Read Facebook as a magazine. You wouldn't think so, but it works great.
Twitter magazine
In the same way, you can also view the content of your Twitter account as a magazine. That seems even less interesting, because Tweets only consist of a limited number of characters, but because Flipboard makes a neat balance between photos, tweets, but also the content of articles that are linked to (and not just the link itself), much more fun to read. Both for Facebook and Twitter, however, it is especially fun to read, responding via Flipboard is not really efficient.
Even Tweets can be easily processed into a magazine.
More topics
Now that you've seen how Flipboard works, it's helpful to indicate which topics you find interesting so that the content adapts to your taste. You do this by pressing the red icon with the dashes at the top right. You will then be presented with a page with a series of main topics on the left.
Press that and a list of 'magazines' that fall within that topic will appear. Press Subscribe at the top of the page to subscribe to such a magazine/category.
Once you have mastered Flipboard, you can select topics yourself.
Edit topics
Your table of contents doesn't have to consist of just one page, so in principle you can keep adding sections. Eventually it becomes a bit obscure. Fortunately, you can also delete rubrics. To do this, press (with the table of contents in front of you) in the bottom right corner To process.
Now press the crosses next to the categories you no longer want to remove them. You can also drag and drop sections to change the order to suit your needs. Press Finished to confirm your new format.
Eliminate topics that don't interest you to keep the table of contents organized.
Create your own magazine
In step 8 we explained how to subscribe to magazines. You can also make such a magazine yourself. When you see something on Flipboard that you want to share, press the plus sign on the page and Next one. Give your magazine a name and description, choose a category and indicate whether others can read it.
Then press Create. This way you can endlessly add articles to your magazine. Tap your profile name in the top left to find your magazines.
You can also bundle interesting articles in your own Flipboard magazine.
Share your own magazine
When you have made your own magazine that is filled with interesting content, it is of course so nice to share it with others. You do that by opening your magazine and then pressing the icon To share. You will then see options to share via email, Facebook, Twitter or Google+. You can then type an accompanying text with a link that automatically leads to your magazine on Flipboard.
You share your own magazine with your social networks.
Institutions
Finally, we'll show you the Settings option, which allows you to customize Flipboard even more. Tap the gear icon at the top right and then Institutions.
In this menu you can set things such as in which browser links should be opened by default, in which language your guide should be shown, which push messages Flipboard can send and so on. Especially the latter ensures that Flipboard only remains useful, and does not become intrusive and annoying.
You can determine the behavior of Flipboard based on the settings.
