The co-founders of Instagram are launching Artifact, a new customised news app. The new app by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger had a waitlist when it first debuted last month, but now anyone with an iOS or Android device can download Artifact and give it a try.
Despite the reputation of Artifact’s makers, the way I read news on my phone hasn’t changed much. The app’s algorithmic sorting causes it to frequently serve me with days-old news that I don’t care about, even though the home tab’s feed of articles contains content that I usually find interesting.
I don’t often swipe to the “Headlines” tab, which provides collections of stories arranged by topics. However, a new feature that will visualise your reading history after you read 10 stories makes the profile tab potentially more intriguing. Evidently, tech firms, gaming, and artificial intelligence are my top three categories.
Additionally, Artifact is introducing a few new functions. A feature that I like is the ability to thumbs-down a story to see fewer articles just like it. Additionally, the app will let you know about articles that are famous among your network if you sync your contacts with it. Although it might be useful, I’m usually hesitant to sync my contacts with an app, so I’m not likely to use it. It kind of reminds me of Nuzzel. For now, Artifact is free and available on both iOS and Android.
