A page we can call home…
About two and a half years ago Circa News 1.0 was released for the iPhone; at launch it was first truly mobile-first news publication. This meant that Circa’s writing and our reading experience would be defined exclusively by the mobile environment. Since then the product and the company have undergone many evolutions but during that whole time there was one thing we were lacking…
A homepage
Today we’re very excited to announce that http://circanews.com is finally ready for your reading pleasure. Our new homepage has many of the same features as the app does and over time we’ll finish that off so that the web is just as capable as our app experience.
Testing out ideas more freely
Because the web is an open platform that’s extremely easy to develop for, we’ll be able to try new features and capabilities before we spend the time to bring them to the app. With the launch of our homepage, we’re actually trying this out for the first time by bringing our “Today’s Briefing” and “Your Updates” concept into the Front Page, separating it from our “Wire” feature that is currently found in our app. We’ll keep trying more of these kinds of experiments over time.
Some questions you might have…
Why launch a website? Isn’t Circa a mobile news company?
Yes, Circa is a mobile news company but we consider “mobile” to be more of a lifestyle than about a device. We all live more mobile lives these days so whether you’re on the go, or eating lunch at your desk, Circa’s news is well formatted for people who want to be informed quickly.
Our stories have been available on the web through social links. CircaNews.com to bring all our news onto one platform that millions of people use every day.
Does this represent a departure from Circa’s original mission?
Not at all. Launching a website is simply an extension of our original goals, allowing us to expand to more platforms than just iOS and Android.
Does circanews.com have all the same features as the app?
For the most part, yes. While registration is still limited to the app, existing readers are able to follow stories and receive updates on those stories just like they would in the app.
Any more features to come?
Here’s a list of the things we’re hoping to add to the web experience:
- An RSS feed
- Follow a story without signing up — we just need an email or phone number to send an SMS update, no password required
- Browser-based push notifications
- A lot more…
