© Provided by Digital Trends Artifact
Instagram is a complicated process, but two app creators are giving it a shot with a new effort called Artifact.
Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger launched the news app in late January, but you had to wait in line to access it.
Artifact opened to the public on Wednesday, allowing news fans around the world to try out the iOS and Android app.
Artifact is essentially a personalized news feed powered by artificial intelligence. When you open it for the first time, the app will ask you to select at least 10 topics that interest you. The menu spans two screens and includes several options for the most popular titles; lifestyle; health; technology and science; business and finance; art, design and culture; Types of sports; and global and much more.
You can then add subscriptions to major news outlets, and the app promises to prioritize the content of these posts in your News Feed.
With the artificial intelligence driving the app, Artifact should improve its capabilities as it is used. The app says it will require a collection of at least 25 articles before it starts managing your news feed likes, and of course it will continue to adjust after that.
By default, the artifact opens in the For You tab, next to the tabs of the selection you made initially. Choose a hot topic from the other tabs, then explore related topics. If you don't like a suggested article, please flag it so the app can make better suggestions next time.
The latest version of Artifact offers tools to help you personalize your experience and also shows your reading history, offering statistics related to your usage. It also lets you see what's happening in your network by reaching out to your contacts to see what news they're up to. "By connecting your contacts, you'll start seeing articles with a special icon when at least most of your contacts have read them," the Artifact team website explains.
The team also encourages direct user feedback so that they can further improve the app's appearance.
Launching a news app in an already busy space must be a tall order, but Systrom and Krieger know how to build a successful app, and it's that reputation that will likely convince many to give Artifact a try.
Alternatively, if you want to explore other popular news apps, Digital Trends has you covered.
