Like the previous releases for Windows tablets and desktops, this edition of Flipboard takes full advantage of the benefits of building apps for Windows. From its information architecture to visual design details, Flipboard for Windows Phone includes some great features that you’ll only find on Windows devices.
You can read about new user features baked into the new Flipboard app here. These features are focused upon helping users get more out of the content they care about, more quickly than ever before.
From a developer perspective, Flipboard was able to leverage existing investments they’ve already made in Windows 8.1 and create a universal Windows app that runs on tablets, desktops, and phones. Windows Phone 8.1 is a huge step forward in the convergence story, and they were able to share things like UI controls, data models, service interactions, live tile backend, system share contract, and more across multiple device targets. Of course a single user experience won’t always work across all devices, so they also targeted certain parts of the code and design only to Windows Phone.
Flipboard was also able to leverage some existing investments they’ve made in web-based components inside of a Webview. The app shares layout code with Flipboard’s website, Windows 8 and other mobile/tablet views. This transportability of code across devices and form factors ensures better consistency of experience, while reducing the amount of native code refactoring for different devices.
Flipboard is available starting today from the Windows Phone Store, as well as coming pre-loaded on one of the first Windows phone 8.1 phones, the Lumia 830.
