Pulse News Reader for iPad: Slick and Snazzy

App Name:	Pulse News Reader
Platforms:	iPad
Publisher(s):	Alphonso Labs
Version Reviewed:	1.1.4
Genre(s):	news, RSS reader
Release Date:	August 2, 2010
Price:	$3.99
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Of all the news/feed readers for iOS, Pulse has probably gotten the most attention. After all, it was the one that Steve Jobs held in his very own hand! So, what is it about Pulse that so attracted the Apple chief?  Well, Pulse has plenty to draw the likes of Steve Jobs, or anyone for that matter. Pulse wants to deliver a slick, unique reading experience, and for the most part, it delivers. Unfortunately, it’s also hampered by a significant limitation.

First, the good: Pulse delivers RSS feeds in a sharp graphical form, utilizing feed “strips” to display content. Scrolling horizontally displays more stories, and scrolling vertically displays more feeds. Tapping a strip brings up the first story in Text mode and moves the strip to the bottom (or the side in landscape). You can easily swap out to the Web version, all without leaving the app or losing the story strip. Buttons on the side, placed conveniently under your thumb, let you share out any story to e-mail or several popular social networking sites, or to return to the main screen.

I was impressed with how smoothly it all works. Things are laid out well, such that the control you want is almost always right under your thumb. Touch is responsive, the strips scroll smoothly, and elements slide in and out of place nicely. It’s also nice in that you can search, sort, add, and delete feeds in-app; unlike some other readers which rely on Google Reader for feed management. This is a spectacular user interface.

It is all done with a snazzy visual way that makes reading a singular experience. The look is clean and modern, not following the “magazine layout” trend but instead creating its own style. Feeds are displayed white-on-black, while articles themselves have a more traditional black-on-light-gray scheme; grays abound, and electric blue accents provide some color. They’ve really created something that you want to look at, want to use.

The big problem with Pulse is that it is currently limited to 20 feeds. Now, I’m not the newsiest news reader out there, but even I have more than 20 feeds in my Google Reader account. Many of them are grouped into categories, which Pulse does not currently recognize; each feed has to be delivered to Pulse separately, meaning that, while I was able to load all of my favorite news feeds, I only made it halfway through my Fantasy Football feeds before filling the reader up, and couldn’t even begin to add all my iOS feeds. Ultimately, I had to go back and pick and choose my twenty “favorite” feeds, so I’m missing out on content when I read on Pulse.

You can expand those 20 feeds to 25 by signing up for a PulseMeme account – an in-house social networking service that lets you favorite a story and post it to a blog that others can read. I toyed with this for about five minutes and then forgot about it. I have active Twitter and Facebook feeds already, and I can post interesting stories to those services within Pulse. I don’t need to keep track of another login.

There’s a lot to love in Pulse’s slick graphical interface, but it’s limited by that 20 feed cap. I want to use Pulse, and in the future I would love to see the app lose its limitation, or at least recognize Google Reader’s groups, so that I could read all the news I want to read. Until then, it’s pretty, but not necessarily practical. If your reading needs are moderate, though, then definitely give Pulse a try.

Our Score: 4.5/5

Pulse was available for $3.99 at the time of this review.

About the Author

Writer@Large Brian P. Hudson is an educator and freelance writer currently living in Dearborn, MI.

 

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