• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechFlipboard

Flipboard Rolls Out a New Upgrade With Smart Magazines

By
Mathew Ingram
Mathew Ingram
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Mathew Ingram
Mathew Ingram
Down Arrow Button Icon
February 8, 2017, 9:00 AM ET
Video Poster

Many of the early apps and games that you could get for an iPad after Apple first introduced the tablet in 2010 are no longer available or as popular as they once were. Flipboard, however—the magazine-style news reader with the flip interface—is still around and doing just fine, says co-founder and CEO Mike McCue.

The company announced its latest upgrade on Wednesday, which McCue says takes the customization features of the app to a whole new level, by adding what he calls “smart magazines.” The new version is aimed at iPhone and Android users, since 95% of Flipboard use occurs on those platforms, but a tablet version will be coming as well.

In effect, smart magazines are bundles of content on various topics, aggregated for users by Flipboard’s algorithms, but also based on recommendations from its human editors.

One of Flipboard’s early innovations was that it allowed any user to create their own custom magazine by adding articles that they came across in the app or on the web. Those could be articles from websites they subscribed to via RSS feeds, pieces they encountered on Twitter, or from digital magazines that partner with Flipboard and distribute their content through it.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter

According to McCue, more than 30 million such magazines have been created to date, a that number has grown by 30% in just the past year. The company has over 100 million monthly users, and the CEO said its net revenue doubled in 2016, as he predicted it would in an interview with Fortune in October 2015.

The new smart magazine feature builds on the idea of custom magazines, McCue said, but instead of users having to do all the work, Flipboard does it for them by automatically creating personalized collections on topics that interest them.

For example, new users can simply select from a number of different topics they are interested in and Flipboard will build them a magazine on the fly that they can read or share with other users. They can also add their own selections to these magazines, to help improve the recommendations in the collection.

 

McCue says the new feature is an extension of Flipboard’s existing “Cover Stories” offering, which collects stories from a variety of sources it thinks you might be interested in, based on your interests and behavior inside the app. The smart magazines feature takes this curation up a notch, the Flipboard CEO says.

The point of doing this is two-fold, says McCue. On the one hand, it makes it easier for new users who don’t have time to follow a lot of things or create custom magazines to get a curated feed of interesting content. And for hard-core users of Flipboard, the new feature can help sort through all of the stuff they come across in their various feeds and magazines, filtering ones that are all about one topic—photography, for example—into a smart magazine. That helps with the information overload problem, McCue says.

“I follow about 1,500 things—magazines, topics, Twitter accounts and lists,” McCue says. “It’s hard to discover new things or browse through all of that. So a smart magazine takes all the things I follow about photography, and adds all the things that our curators have suggested and sources others recommend in one easy place.”

In addition to algorithms, the company also has about 30 editors or curators worldwide, some of whom are on staff and some of whom are part-time or on contract, and they recommend articles for various topics as well.

Flipboard Goes After Facebook With Targeted Ad Feature

McCue says that using human editors (as Apple (AAPL) also does for its curated news feature), makes Flipboard much less susceptible to the “fake news” problem that some users have complained about on Facebook (FB). Although algorithms are necessary simply because of the sheer volume of data Flipboard is sifting through, humans are crucial, he says.

There have been rumors in the past that Flipboard was looking to sell, but McCue says he is not looking to be acquired. “There are always conversations going on, but nothing like a serious discussion,” he said. “It’s not that we wouldn’t ever sell, it’s just that we’re focused on building something that has value.”

Flipboard did at one point have discussions with Twitter (TWTR) about a potential acquisition, but the talks fell through in part because of the turmoil in the executive suite at the real-time news service, which ultimately resulted in CEO Dick Costolo stepping down and being replaced by co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey.

About the Author
By Mathew Ingram
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

Tim Cook reveals the advice he gave Apple’s next CEO: The most important decision he’ll make is ‘where he spends his time’
Big TechApple
Tim Cook reveals the advice he gave Apple’s next CEO: The most important decision he’ll make is ‘where he spends his time’
By Alexei OreskovicApril 30, 2026
1 hour ago
Meta’s threat to quit New Mexico ‘is showing the world how little it cares about child safety,’ AG says
LawMeta
Meta’s threat to quit New Mexico ‘is showing the world how little it cares about child safety,’ AG says
By Catherina GioinoApril 30, 2026
4 hours ago
Meta's Hyperion data-center site in Northeastern Louisiana.
NewslettersEye on AI
Big Tech will spend nearly $700 billion on AI this year. No one knows where the buildout ends
By Sharon GoldmanApril 30, 2026
7 hours ago
Financial analyst working at a computer
Personal FinancePersonal Finance Evergreen
AI’s entry-level hiring nightmare is another gift to boomers’ retirement plans
By Catherina GioinoApril 30, 2026
8 hours ago
TOPSHOT - Alphabet Inc. and Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks during the inauguration of a Google Artificial Intelligence (AI) hub in Paris on February 15, 2024. (Photo by ALAIN JOCARD / AFP via Getty Images)
AIGoogle
Google and Amazon’s biggest profit driver last quarter was their Anthropic stakes—which they haven’t sold
By Eva RoytburgApril 30, 2026
9 hours ago
Elon Musk arrives at the courthouse during his trial against OpenAI
CryptoElon Musk
Elon Musk likes Bitcoin—but he just told a jury most crypto coins are scams
By Jack KubinecApril 30, 2026
10 hours ago

Most Popular

Apple cofounder Ronald Wayne—whose stake would be worth up to $400 billion had he not sold it in 1976—says that at 91, he has no regrets
Success
Apple cofounder Ronald Wayne—whose stake would be worth up to $400 billion had he not sold it in 1976—says that at 91, he has no regrets
By Preston ForeApril 27, 2026
3 days ago
Google Cloud revenue is now 18% of Alphabet's business. Is this the beginning of the end of Google's search identity?
Big Tech
Google Cloud revenue is now 18% of Alphabet's business. Is this the beginning of the end of Google's search identity?
By Alexei OreskovicApril 29, 2026
24 hours ago
‘The cost of compute is far beyond the costs of the employees’: Nvidia executive says right now AI is more expensive than paying human workers
AI
‘The cost of compute is far beyond the costs of the employees’: Nvidia executive says right now AI is more expensive than paying human workers
By Sasha RogelbergApril 28, 2026
3 days ago
Jamie Dimon gets candid about national debt: ‘There will be a bond crisis, and then we’ll have to deal with it’
Economy
Jamie Dimon gets candid about national debt: ‘There will be a bond crisis, and then we’ll have to deal with it’
By Eleanor PringleApril 29, 2026
2 days ago
‘They left me no choice’: Powell isn’t going anywhere—blocking Trump from another Fed appointee
Banking
‘They left me no choice’: Powell isn’t going anywhere—blocking Trump from another Fed appointee
By Eva RoytburgApril 29, 2026
1 day ago
With no end in sight, Trump considers new options in Iran war—including the ‘Dark Eagle’ hypersonic missile
Big Tech
With no end in sight, Trump considers new options in Iran war—including the ‘Dark Eagle’ hypersonic missile
By Jim EdwardsApril 30, 2026
15 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.