As if by clockwork, the popular newsreader application Digg has just received its largest update ever and the verdict is out, it is beautiful. The update brings a completely overhauled user interface that closely follows the Android UI guidelines, slide out menus and all. There is no doubt that the great Matias Duarte would be proud.
It is quite possible that this application may be the Google Reader replacement that many of us have been searching for. Many Google Reader applications seem to offer a subpar user experience and this one does not disappoint.
After playing with the application for a few minutes, I can say that it works exactly as one would expect it to. RSS feeds can be added in the application or inside of the Digg.com web interface. You are even able to import your old Google Reader feed backups and carry off where you last left off at.
RSS feeds can be sorted into user created folders to allow you to separate your technology news from your favorite sports news. Article images are carried into the application automatically when syncing.
The Digg Reader application also has several Social Sharing tools built in to allow you to share content with Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Tumblr, LinkedIn as well as email and SMS.
My only complaint with this application is that it appears to favor portrait mode on all of the navigation menus which may upset tablet users. Once you navigate through the menu, the content itself can be viewed in landscape mode. Based on several of the comments in the Play Store, I am not the only one who shares this opinion. I am sure that we will see an update to this application to correct this bug soon.
The application is Free in the Google Play Store and may be installed with the following link.
I have also attached several screenshots of the application in action below.
