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When Quartz launched in 2012, we put most of our effort on mobile, knowing that's how most of our readers would get their news soon enough. But we pointedly avoided building a native app because we felt the web was better suited for the way people read and share news *articles.* If we were going to do a native app, it wouldn't be a replica of our website. It would be something different and more truly native to the phone.
That's what we've tried to do with this app. We wanted to experiment with some very clear trends in mobile: messaging, notifications, bots. Think of the app as a playground for some of those concepts. This note to readers talks more about what the hell we are thinking and acknowledges some inspirations: http://qz.com/613700
@zseward seriously, amazingly simple idea, fresh approach. Nicely done. Luckily there are more attractive and interactive new ways to bring news, as the Snapchat way makes me feel like a zombie staring at MTV on a poststamp.
Are you considering multiple conversations as well, as you want to bring different news to different people (you're not really doing that on Quartz, I know, but: ) because mobile is more personal...?
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@zseward @rrhoover: quoting myself: And receiving notifications from bots is to be expected, rather than avoided, because users have been conditioned to receive them from their friends. While you may have bristled when that news app alerted you to “new stories”, you might appreciate a particularly friendly newsbot delivering a personalized recommendation with context that you uniquely care about.
Am i the only one not to be impressed? sure it 's cool but it seems to me a slow way to get new you can get in a much faster way by reading headlines of any news app?
@ourielohayon Exactly my thoughts. Their app usage on this is probably going to plummet in the first week.
I've only been using this for a few minutes now but this is amazing, have there ever been any thoughts about doing something like this on the web @zseward?
Also I can't wait for an android version of the app also!
I don't honestly think this would work as well on the web in its precise form, but certainly elements of it could, and we're looking at all options, including Android.
I have a question - did you guys have any trouble getting through Apple's review process with that UI? We've been rejected in the past for having UI that Apple deemed to replicate iOS system functionality (they claimed it would be misleading to users). In our case it was the phone call UI; in your case, Quartz has clearly been designed to look like the iMessage interface, despite it not being a messaging service.
Love the concept of the app - just wondered if you'd had similar troubles, or if we were just unlucky!
Since it looks/works a lot like chat, have you thought about making a plain ol' SMS service? So users with _any_ phone can play along?
Have thought about it. Could be a bit too sluggish over SMS, would be our concern. But definitely want to offer something for any platform that makes sense.
It's not really possible, at least in the same way. I'm sure that will evolve, though.
This has such a good on-boarding flow! "Great. You'll get a pop-up asking for permission." http://imgur.com/B3P9YNN
This is super cool - but I feel something is lost by it being a standalone app. Why did you go for that as opposed to hooking into an existing messaging app?
Hunter
News as a conversation really works, kinda like talking to a well-informed friend. This is a nice addition to their daily mail.
Really love the conversation concept, but when I get a chat back after making the more / next selection and there's > 1 chat bubble, it's awkward to read. Too much too quickly.
Hate to be the hater, but this is the most useless use of a conversational interface I've used. Not everything needs the latest in UI paradigms.
@ethank I'm also not convinced this is the best interface to consume news but I appreciate the creativity and willingness to try something new. I appreciate those that try to do things different from the rest, even if it's not "successful".
@rrhoover I appreciate creativity that is innovative, not that is following the latest du jour bandwagon in tech interfaces. It's kind of like everyone going for "flat" interfaces, even when not necessary. Just because its a thing doesn't mean it needs to be YOUR thing. There are and were a lot of things like this: activity feeds, realtime web tech, flat design, folksonomies / tag clouds, etc.
In the end I don't actually think its all that creative. It's just a reborn SmarterChild.
@ethank BRING BACK THE TAG CLOUDS!
I hear what you're saying. Trending chasing alone doesn't lead to a great product.
@rrhoover Usually they just serve as an example of why the trend is potentially a bad idea (see aforementioned tag clouds)
Amazing to see bots used in such creative ways --- this app is one the most unique implementations yet.
I am absolutely loving this and honestly, I'm quite annoyed that I didn't think of this. Great job guys!!
I do like that it's something new, and it was fun this morning, but I can't imagine people using this to get their news this way long-term. It takes way too long. But, if they are better than USA Today at determining what is actually breaking news for notifications, I will never uninstall.
@kevinreape It does take very long. I think there's some opportunity to blend the messaging format more with an article format within the app. Perhaps, they're working on an in app article view ala Instant Article. I also second the "determining what's breaking news" That's why I really enjoy Notify by Facebook. Great as a minimal app for breaking news.
Hey @zseward! The app looks great. Very refreshing to see a news publication try out something new and capitalizing on whats considered hot consumer behaviors. Really like how old publications are adapting. WSJ is capitalizing on Snapchat and Quartz on bots and messaging. 🙌🏻👍🔑
Wow. This is a great approach to dealing with the news. Almost like having a good friend tell you a story they heard instead of the very impersonal and big talking news organizations. Nice job!
While it was a refreshing approach, it lost all novelty within 5 minutes of use. Since it wasn't an actual SMS interface, it feels like a crappy choose your own adventure. Couple this with some Natural Language Processing and actually try to have a Siri based conversation and I'd be impressed. Even if it failed a few times it would be better than this "More" or "Next" interface. Also, sourcing the messages with your own website isn't a real source. While I've uninstalled I look forward to 2.0.
No timing on Android, but we'll certainly turn to it as soon as we have solid data and feedback on this first version.
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