Globe unveils new mobile app

The Boston Globe is unveiling its new mobile app for iOS and Android. Although it will be rolled out gradually over the next week, you can download it now. My quick test shows it to be attractive and fast.

One thing I’ll be watching for is whether you get handed off to the mobile website, which the old app did way too often. In any case, I hope the new app wears as well as my first impression seems to promise. Here’s an internal announcement that was provided to me a little while ago by a trusted source:

We are pleased to announce the launch of the new Boston Globe app for both iOS and Android! Our new app has a cleaner, modern design and new features which include in-app commenting, the ability to listen to certain articles, an all new in-app Boston Globe Today TV experience, the ability for users to play our new games and puzzles, and ability to view the e-paper right in the app.  The new app also has the ability for users to subscribe to Globe.com directly from the app.

The release will be rolled out slowly to our audience starting today and continue over the next 7 days on the following schedule:

Day 1 – 1% of legacy app users will get the update automatically, then
Day 2 – 2%
Day 3 – 5%
Day 4 – 10%
Day 5 – 20%
Day 6 – 50%
Day 7 – 100%

Users who have auto update enabled will automatically get the app update and, if they were logged in to the legacy app, they will remain logged in to the updated one.  Alternatively, users will be able to manually update from the Apple or Google Play stores once we’ve hit 100% rollout.

In partnership with the Marketing team we are also planning a marketing campaign once the new app has been rolled out to 100% of the audience.  Please help us spread the word on your social networks.

We appreciate everyone’s work on this project, as it was a truly collaborative effort among numerous departments.

Thanks,
The Mobile App Team

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