Create Your Own Magazine With Flipboard 2.0

Social news magazine Flipboard this week introduced Version 2.0, which includes more content, faster navigation, and the ability for users to create their own magazines.

Users can grab articles, photos, audio, and videos, and with a few taps of the finger, organize a digital magazine for public or private consumption.

iPad users can tap the "+" button next to articles to add them to an existing or new in-app magazine. Users can create as many magazines as they want — My Picks, New York City Transportation, Things to Read Later, Wedding Inspiration, etc. The curation process draws from virtually any source on Flipboard and beyond, now including social networks Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SoundCloud, LinkedIn, and Tumblr.

The update includes a new, visual Content Guide, accessible via Flipboard's Red Ribbon, where a table of contents includes users' magazines, subscriptions, and notifications, as well as the new "By Our Readers" option.

"The coolest thing about our new content guide, I think, is 'By Our Readers,'" Flipboard founder Mike McCue said in an introductory video (below). "This is a new category where we feature magazines made by people just like you."

Among those highlighted: blogger Michelle Slatalla of Gardenista, entrepreneur Kate Kendall, the Bureau of Trade's curator Michael Phillips Moscowitz, small business owner Elizabeth Leu, the band Linkin Park, and other people with passions for graffiti, fashion, apps, horses, travel, food, kids, and more.

The Flipboard team has enhanced the general flipping experience by making it feel more tangible, McCue said. He showed off new fast flipping, which lets users quickly move through pages, just like scanning through a physical magazine.

Additional updates include commenting and user mentions, recommended reading, subsections for easier navigation, fast section switching, and optional Facebook Open Graph integration.

Meanwhile, the iPhone application also got a boost with a new, swipeable content guide and social icons to like and comment on articles, as well as the ability to return to previous pages with a simple swipe of the finger.

"You can go down the rabbit hole and come back very, very easily on your iPhone," McCue said.

Amidst the news of the revamped application, Flipboard also announced a new partnership with online retailer Etsy, which will allow Flipboard users to see and shop for Etsy products without leaving the app.

The iOS update is now available in the Apple App Store; Version 2.0 is coming soon to Android.

For more, see PCMag's review of Flipboard for iPad and the slideshow above.