Wolfgang Augustin has released Reader X, a new Google Reader client for iPad users. Taking an approach somewhere between traditional list-based news readers and magazine-style content aggregators, Reader X presents the user’s Google Reader news feed in a large, wallpaper-style grid. All headlines are displayed in a single view, with each feed presented as a horizontal stripe with items ordered chronologically; users swipe horizontally to browse through items in a single feed or vertically to browse down through additional feeds in their Google Reader account.
Colour coding is used to differentiate unread, starred and read items with colour gradients used to represent the age of each item—newer items use more vibrant, saturated colours while older items are more faded. Users can display only unread or starred items with a single tap or zoom into a feed by tapping its title to present the individual feed in a scrollable grid view. Reader X also provides options for starring, saving and sharing articles via e-mail, Readability, Instapaper, Read It Later, Pinboard, Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook. Users can also use Readability and Instapaper to render web pages for quick reading on the go. Reader X requires iOS 5.0 or later and is available from the App Store for $2.
