Flipboard, the iOS app which “revolutionized publishing world” just announced launching an Android edition in China in the wake of the app made it to Google Play in its home turf.
In addition to Google Play, considering the fact that a vast majority of Chinese Android users choose 3rd party app markets over the original Google Play ‘for some reason’ (not saying it), Flipboard also partnered with two local Android app distributor — Wandoujia and AppChina — to promote the new edition. Wandoujia which claimed 40 million downloads could be deemed as the iTunes for Android devices, while AppChina is more like a 3rd party Android markets. Both were incubated by Kaifu Lee’s Innovation Works and raised tens of millions dollars in their previous fundings.
Wang Junyu, co-founder of Wandoujia said that “Flipboard and Wandoujia both aspire for a design concept of simplicity and elegance. We hope the partnership could promote the value of design among Chinese Android developers.”
In a public speech in China last month, Mike McCue, founder and CEO of the company once said that “in engineer-driven companies like Google in the U.S. and Baidu in China, designing Internet product is all about data. This is especially true for Google, which is well-known for its data-powered product design discipline”. Mike, though acknowledging the importance of data in the craftsmanship, suggested that sometimes it’s better to leave data alone while add emotions and soul to the product if one is looking to making ground-breaking stuff.
That discipline applies to Flipboard, as well as many other apps that aspire for better design to stand out from the crowd.
You can download the Android edition from Wandoujia (link) or AppChina (link).
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