The Economist Android app reivew

I've been reading The Economist for the last few years and could only watch with a green eye from the Android corner when they released an iPhone/iPad app earlier this year. That was resolved in April when the produced an Android version.
There is no arguing with the quality of the journalism in this paper whether you agree with their stance or not. However good content does not necessarily a good app make. Ease of use can make or break an established title's move to mobile.
Opening page
The Economist app is excellent in this respect. You get the latest version as soon as it is available on Thursday. And its cover is what greets you when you launch the app.
You can click on the cover (or that of any of the back issues still on your phone) to get to the table of contents. This is an exact replica of the paper version, albeit it laid out vertically in a nice clean phone format. Clicking on a story brings you to that section of the paper.

The layout of the stories is very similar to the paper version - clean and easy to read. A left or right swipe gesture is used to move you between stories. You can navigate the whole issue this way. It's a very natural way to read a magazine without having to fiddle with buttons. I find myself reading more of the content of The Economist since I got the app. A few minutes waiting for a bus is sufficient to read an article.
The app is so useful in fact that I have wondered if I can cancel the paper copy. It's sometimes nicer to look at bigger pictures on the paper, but a tablet would of course fix this. Cancelling the paper would of course make this the most expensive app I have - about €120 per year. Don't think I will go that far yet though.

Overall score: 10/10
Will it be staying on my phone? Definitely. I have been using the app since April of this year and have read The Economist on it every week. It is one of my most used and liked apps. It may not be Angry Birds, but sometimes that's a good thing :)

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