San Francisco — Relentlessly striving to compete with likes of Flipboard and others, Google Currents, Google’s magazine-style news reader app for Android and iOS, which was unveiled in December, just got a significant update, along with expanding to international audience.
When Google Currents was introduced, it started out with a bang, allowing users to explore online content with just the swipe of a finger. The app now touts more than 400 new publisher editions and over 14,000 self-produced editions to its lineup that are accessible via Google Currents.
However, since its launch, Currents was only available in the United States, and seemingly many readers expressed their desire for the app to be available internationally and also to sync content quicker and it looks like Google has heard your voices in the dark!
Google product manager Mussie Shore explained on the Google Mobile blog that “after the U.S. launch, the top features readers requested were to make the app available internationally and to allow content to sync quickly.”
Hence, that is changing today, as Google has released Currents version 1.1, which is now available globally. Besides, local publishers can now start adding their content to the app and U.S. publishers can now turn on a translation feature to make their texts available in any of the 44 languages of your choice thanks to the deep integration that is supported by Google Translate.
As per the latest release, it is now evident that no matter where you are, if you can download an app through Google Play or the iTunes App Store, you can download Google Currents. And as it is mentioned in the post that the app is now available internationally, it indicates that on top of the US based magazines that was already available.
(Credit: Google)
In addition, readers can also include their favorite local blogs to Currents, giving them a truly international experience. In fact, the translation feature, which is what Google really wants to put emphasis on in this release, is now seamlessly integrated with Currents, which perfectly complements the new international availability of the app.
While you are browsing any edition, you can press the globe icon to automatically translate it into one of 38 supported languages. However, those translations can be a bit jagged at times, though they are generally good enough to get the general gist of an article.
On the other hand, publishes on the international front who have already adopted Google Currents are The Guardian in the UK, LaStampa in Italy, Financial Times Deutschland in Germany, ABC News in Australia, Neue Zürcher Zeitung in Switzerland and Hindustan Times in India just to name a few.
Finally, this latest version of Currents now also sports a new “dynamic sync feature,” which ensures that articles are downloaded instantly as soon as you open the app without having to press the sync button. This ensures that you regularly have the newest content right in front of you, at all times. Along with this feature, you can also choose to make any editions available for offline reading.
While you will apparently be constrained by the storage space on your device, it is a great feature for frequent travelers who may not always get a data connection on planes or trains. So, if you are interested in publishing, you can start adding content to the catalog via Google Currents Producer. If you have not already downloaded the latest version of Google Currents, click here and enjoy reading.