The Guardian isn’t the first UK newspaper to get its own app, but it’s the most stylish example of ‘Fleet Street’ in the App Store. It provides all the news, features, images and audio from the Guardian website. That includes a decent search engine to find stories, as well as slick browsing capabilities to root through the day’s news and features.

However, the reason this is such an impressive app is the way it goes beyond simply repurposing the website. This is essential, since the Guardian already has a very good m-commerce-friendly website.

Key features include offline browsing – the ability to choose which categories will be downloaded to your SmartPhone, so you can read them on the tube, in a plane or anywhere else where reception is non-existent or patchy.

The customisation options are also excellent. You can tweak the home screen to show whatever categories you like, with the ability to mark specific writers and sections, accessed through the Favourites tab.

Sharing features are all present and correct too, allowing you to email friends links to articles you have enjoyed. Usable and easy to navigate with the inclusion of podcasts is also a cut above the crowd. And all this is offered for the price of two and a half copies of the print version – making it an essential buy for all Guardian readers, and if won’t be surprising if this app may even turn heads from other newspaper applications.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 29th, 2010 at 11:23 pm and is filed under Mobile Apps Review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.