Despite some interesting first impressions from publishers, Flipboard has proven itself as a very cool way to browse news and social networks on the iPad. The reader app lets you subscribe to various blogs, check up on your social networks, and just recently, given you the ability to peruse through your subscriptions in your Google Reader account. In this how-to, we'll show you how to maximize your social media use with Flipboard for iPad.
First of all, you'll need to download Flipboard from the App Store [iTunes link]. Once you've downloaded and installed Flipboard onto your iPad, navigate to the Contents page to get started.
To set up Facebook, you can either tap on the Facebook content square that appears by default in the application's Contents section, or click on the "Add a Section" square.
Once in the "Add a Section" pop up, tap on the Facebook selection. You'll be prompted to sign in to Facebook, then grant Flipboard access to your posts, new feed, and data.
Once you've granted access to your Facebook account, Flipboard will begin displaying data from your Facebook news feed right in the Flipboard application. If you wish to see more content from Facebook, simply tap on the Facebook content square and a larger view will open. Swipe from right to left to navigate through the content, just as you would normally do in Flipboard.
To update your status, click on the small writing icon in the top-right corner of the Facebook section in Flipboard. This will open up a new view that will allow you to post an update to Facebook and attach a photo or the current page you're viewing in Flipboard.
To switch between the different sections of Facebook, tap on the Facebook logo in the top of the Facebook Flipboard section. This will pop down a list, letting you switch between News Feed, Your Wall, News Feed Photos, News Feed Links, Groups, Pages, and Friend Lists.
Setting up Twitter in Flipboard is similar to the way we set up Facebook. You can either tap on the Twitter content square that is generated automatically in Flipboard, or tap on the "Add a Section" square, then Twitter.
Doing either will pop open a "Sign in to Twitter" dialog. Enter your username and password, then click "Sign In."
After you've entered your Twitter credentials, a Twitter content square will be created, letting you see your Twitter Timeline. Tap on the content square to see your full Twitter Timeline.
If you wish to post an update to Twitter, tap on the small writing icon in the top-right of the Twitter view. From here, you can also attach a photo or the current page you're on.
To switch between the different sections of Twitter, tap on the Twitter logo in the top of the Twitter Flipboard section. This will pop down a list, letting you switch between Your Timeline, Your Timeline Links, Your Tweets, Your Favorites, Tweets Mentioning You, and Your Lists.
New to Flipboard is the integration with Google Reader. You can now browse and read all of the subscriptions you may already have stored with your Google Account, right from Flipboard.
To set up your Google Reader account inside of Flipboard, navigate to the Contents section again and press the square labeled, "Add a Section." Once there, tap on the Google Reader item. You will then be prompted for your Google account credentials.
Once you have signed in, a new content square will be added called Google Reader. Tapping this square will bring you into the Google Reader main view for Flipboard. From here, you can browse all of the latest news from the RSS feeds you subscribe to in Google Reader by simply flipping through it like you would a book.
To skip between the different sections in Google Reader, tap on the Google Reader text in the Flipboard menu bar. You will be given a pop up with the following options: All Items, Your Shared Items, Your Starred Items, People You Follow, Individual People You Follow, and Subscriptions. Tapping on any of these headings will take you to that section in Google Reader.
While browsing through your subscriptions in Google Reader, Flipboard lets you create new notes just as you can in the Google Reader web interface. Simply tap on the small writing icon in the top-right corner of the application. When you do, a new note window will drop down, letting you write a new note and attach a photo or current page.
Setting up Flickr is just as easy as the other services have been. Simply navigate back to the "Add a Section" square, then tap on Flickr.
You'll be prompted to sign in using your Yahoo ID, then you'll be asked to grant Flickr account access to Flipboard. Click the OK, I'll Authorize It button to continue.
Once authorized, Flipboard will create a new square called Flickr. Tapping on this square will bring you to a full screen Flickr-browsing page inside of Flipboard. From here, you'll be able to browse through the photos in your Flickr stream.
To move between the different areas of Flickr, tap on the Flickr text in the menu bar of Flipboard. This will pop down a list of sections you can browse, including: Your Contacts, Your Photostream, Your Favorites, Interestingness, and Groups.
Unfortunately, Flipboard doesn't yet give you the ability to upload photos to Flickr from their application. You can still update your status for Twitter, Facebook, and add Google Reader notes from this section, however.
Because Flipboard is a social-driven content aggregation client, the way you add custom content squares to Flipboard is by specifying a person, list, or blog that can be found on Twitter.
To create a new content square based on a person, list, or blog on Twitter, navigate to the "Add a Section" pop up and select the "Add a Custom Section" button.
The resulting view will let you search for a specific term using the search box at the top of the page, or you can select from the People, Blogs, Twitter Users, and Twitter Lists that Flipboard suggests.
When searching, a list below the search box will be populated with the results of the search. Tap on any of the results in the list to instantly create a square based on that content.
Tapping on the square will reveal the links and other content that is posted to Twitter.
Unfortunately, this is where Flipboard starts falling apart in terms of the ability to customize the content viewed within the application. You cannot add custom RSS feeds to create a content square. Because of this shortcoming in the application, you will need to add the feed you want to view in Flipboard to your Google Reader account. The feed will then be viewable through the Google Reader content square.
Follow this article's author, Cory Bohon on Twitter.
