Review: Blancspot – An Artsy Approach To Feeding You News
August 20, 2010
Overview
Just when you thought the array of current event news feed apps were becoming trite and blasé, Blancspot swoops in to resuscitate life back into the concept by adding some pizazz to the mix! This app brings you relevant, up-to-date news in a different fashion than other news based apps in the App Store by slowly scrolling through headlines with crisp, hi-def pictures backgrounded with soft, relaxing tunes. You can sit and let the articles pass by on their own time, or give a finger swipe and move on if you are utterly disinterested with the headline being displayed. Oh no folks, it doesn't stop there. As one would expect, it allows you to share all of the news stories you find intriguing enough using Facebook, Twitter, or straight up Email.
Features
Blancspot lets you create a free account with their service which opens up the gates to your own personal channel, friends' activity and suggested articles. Not to mention you can also add friends. Adding friends really maximizes your Blancspotting experience as it will enable you to become more immersed in the social news vibe the developers were going for here. You'll be presented with articles your friends suggested for you, as well as take a peek at what they've been up to as they Blancspot their days away. Another cool feature that they offer is the ability to purchase in iTunes the songs that you're listening to as the news scrolls by. That way if you're into the soft indie scene, you'll just have a field day emptying out your bank account to the tune of Blancspot's playlist.
There are seven genres of news for you to choose from including Headlines, Sports, Business, Politics, Culture, War Room, and The Planet, so most folks won't have a problem finding some news they can sink their teeth into. Once you've scrolled through all of the articles in one entire genre it will move right on to the next and so on, keeping the experience seamless and hassle free, which is great.
The Breakdown
The Good This app is so easy to use. You could literally open it up and just sit there and you'd still be able to enjoy dozens of news headlines without even touching the screen. This makes this app a requirement in the lives of those eat-cereal-and-read-the-news types out there. You will have to touch the "Read" button though if you want more than just a headline, so I'd recommend freeing up at least one sturdy finger for those situations. Relevance and intrigue are huge with news apps, and in my experience with Blancspot it does a phenomenal job on both fronts. Even in genres I'm not particularly into, I find myself at least tangentially interested in the news they choose to present, which I appreciate.
The social integration in this app is wonderfully polished and simple. Adding friends and checking on their activity is effortless, allowing the whole experience to be a complete delight. To share articles on Facebook or Twitter you just touch the share button and move right along.
Blancspot doesn't leave you wanting. It incorporates almost any features users of the app could dream of, and it's got them down to a science. They have really put their all into this app and it shows, which is why it has gotten such rave reviews thus far and I suspect it will continue to for quite some time.
The Bad
Not much to complain about here, except the fact that there is no "Technology" news genre. THERE'S NO TECHNOLOGY NEWS GENRE. Some of this news is covered in the business and culture sections, but still. I'd love an entire section devoted to technology-related news because come on, someone has to feed us techno-geeks, right?
Also, this is not the most time-effective method of receiving news. Unless you're physically scrolling past them with your finger, the headlines go by pretty slowly, giving you a little bit of news in a lot of time. For those pragmatists out there, this is not the "best" way to maximize your news intake. It's more of a casual reader's style, which will be just fine for most.
The Verdict
Simply put, Blancspot is awesome. Anyone who is after a soothing trek through the good and the bad of today's hottest topics will have a wonderful time with the experience Blancspot delivers. Once they get a technology section in the mix, I would dare to call this app the perfect news resource for the iPhone. Its ease of use in collusion with top notch article selections make this app a real treat for its users. $2.99 is a bit of a hefty price point, but if you consider some of the other crap you can buy today for $3 this is comparatively a rather wise investment.
With an AppAdvice rating of 4.5, Blancspot is a must buy.
