Yahoo for Android redesign is here, and so are our impressions
Yahoo has updated its official application in the Google Play Store, giving you access to all things Yahoo in one central location. The app focuses primarily on news, giving you a daily dosage of the hottest stories around the world in sports, tech, politics and more. By default, your news will launch in an endless scrolling list of summarizing text (via Yahoo-acquired Summly) and luscious images. Clicking on one of the stories will take you to the full content, be it of Yahoo’s own creation or from an aggregated source such as Reuters or Forbes.
Within the story, you can either share it using Android’s built-in sharing function, or use the personalization topics at the bottom to let Yahoo know what type of news it should (and shouldn’t) be showing you. Signing into your Yahoo account will save these personal preferences across all your devices, so logging in via desktop, an Android tablet and even — god forbid — an iOS device won’t cause you to lose your tailor-made experience.
Pressing the menu button will bring up a sidebar where you can switch to a classic list view, flip between different topics of interest, and access other Yahoo applications you may have installed on your phone such as Yahoo Mail and Yahoo Finance. If you don’t have a particular app it’ll jump you right over to the Google Play Store to download it.
Also new in today’s update is an updated web search experience, with a query returning a number of web results, images, or videos. You can switch between result types using a tabbed interface at the bottom. Photos show up nice and rich, allowing you to swipe through them as easily as you would a set of photos in your gallery app.
All in all, Yahoo’s new app isn’t the greatest in the news delivery world. It tries to emulate a Holo-esque theme but refuses to be full-on Holo. It works, though, and it should prove to be a decent companion for those who have their lives tied into Yahoo. Alone, this app probably isn’t worth much attention, but tie in Yahoo’s many other apps and services from the Google Play Store and this is one app Yahoo die-hards will want to hold on to. Try the new update out for yourself over in the Google Play Store.
