Settle in for a Serious Read with Longform

It may seem anathema in the early 21^st century, but some people still prefer their news in-depth, thorough and well-written. But in a twitterpated sound-bite culture it’s difficult to find comprehensive news reporting much less an app that serves it without paying for multiple subscriptions.

A new iPad app on the news aggregator scene, Longform, is changing that, and doing so in a way that still feels very iOS.

Longform curates articles from numerous major publications including The NewYorker, National Geographic, BusinessWeek, Esquire and about a dozen more. Along with a Longform feed that culls from additional sources, readers select their favorites.

A tap on the periodicals, placed on the left sidebar, brings up headlines and excerpts appear on the right. Readers are then offered a web view or a beautifully Spartan page for easy reading in either orientation.

The app is closely integrated with Readbility for offline reading, but users can choose Instatpaper or ReadItLater in the options menu if they prefer. If one has used any of these services or Safari's native reader, the look is much the same.

The app allows for multiple scalable fonts, page-formatting options, and favorite articles can be shared via Twitter. Facebook, Tumblr or by email.

I have a wishlist as long as my arm for additional sources, but Longform is a off to a tremendously good start both in terms of style and substance. It has already earned its place amongst my favorite news aggregators on the App Store.