Google debuted a free mobile app Thursday that pulls together content from multiple websites and creates a personalized digital magazine.
Called Google Currents users will find it similar to Flipboard, but unlike Flipboard, Currents runs on both iOS and Android devices.
I had a chance to try it out on a Samsung Galaxy S smartphone. I connected to Wifi because the app ran slow on 3G. Another tip to speed it up is to enable background sync on 3G and Wi-Fi and save images for offline use.
Once the app syncs the experience is quite fluid and it's easy to add new streams. There's a suggested list that you can choose from, but you can also pick RSS feeds from your Google Reader.
The app is rich with photos and videos, but again unless everything is synced it may run slow. There's a trending tab to show you the most popular stories and all of the stories throughout the app are able to be share in multiple ways including on Facebook, Google+, through text message and email.
The top section of the homepage on Currents is images from articles that you can scroll through, but for me it just takes up too much room and I'd rather see the space used differently.
The were a few times the app seemed to hang, especially when it was syncing, but otherwise it seemed ok. Currents is available now for free for both iOS and Android. In Boston, Nick Barber, IDG News Service.
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