Review: CNN Mobile
December 5, 2009
Overview
CNN Mobile is the official app from the pioneer of cable news, CNN. In an era where nearly everyone has grown accustomed to reading news online for free, CNN made a bold move by deciding to charge $1.99 for its offering. Fortunately, they added some bells and whistles that make it stand out from the pack. Note: CNN Mobile is only available in the U.S. app store.Features
This app has all the major bases covered. Headlines are presented by default when the app is launched; they more or less match the headlines found on CNN.com. Tapping on an article brings up the content in a format that CNN.com readers will be familiar with; a large picture, a bullet
point summary, and finally the actual story. If a related video is available, it's available right below the picture. Readers can swipe left and right to move between the available stories without going back out to the main list. The major sections such as "World," "US," and "Politics" are available by sliding a narrow bar near the top of the screen.
Landscape mode is fully supported while viewing headlines; articles are presented with pictures in a coverflow style. The reading of articles, however, is not possible while in landscape mode.
On top of the headlines, CNN Mobile features a section called "My CNN" which allows readers to view local news, weather, and traffic info, follow desired topics of interest, and access saved articles.
Video content is prevalent but generally limited to short clips that usually don't last longer than a few minutes. The only time that live video is available is during specific breaking news events.
CNN's iReport content also has a major presence, and it is even possible to submit new photos or video from the app itself.
Finally, the app makes use of push notifications by sending out breaking news, although what qualifies as "breaking" is a little hazy.
The Breakdown
The Good: There is a lot of content in this app, and without a good interface, a lot of it could get lost. Thankfully, CNN Mobile has one o
f the most attractive and polished interfaces I've seen in an iPhone app. The white text on black background looks great and the coverflow browsing that's available from most screens well-executed and simply put, beautiful. Using finger swipes to move between articles rather than going back to the list is a great time saver, especially considering that the next article in line is cached so that it loads instantly.
"My CNN" is equally well implemented. You can save multiple locations and switch between them easily. With local news, weather information including forecasts and radar, and traffic reports, this single app could easily replace two or three others on your springboard.
The Bad:
For a $2 app, there sure are ads everywhere - interspersed within lists of articles, within the text of articles, and even full screen ads that display for a few seconds before videos start playing. They can certainly be distracting, and they slow down the rest of the app as they download. The majority of low user ratings in the app store are due to the ads. If you loathe ads, you have been warned.
