In addition to writing reviews and news blogs for MacSources.com, I also work as a Marketing Professional for a local sports/entertainment venue. It is something I truly enjoy and am passionate about, but it can lend itself to long days with few breaks. That can make it hard for me to stay up-to-date with news and events happening throughout the day. During my lunch breaks, I usually give myself a few minutes to peruse through my Facebook and Twitter feeds, but I rarely get through the entirety of the daily blurbs. Luckily, I just discovered Winston, the lovable, polite app that reads you news summaries from news sources as well as your favorite social networks.
Winston was originally released in July of 2012, but it has been completely redesigned with version 2.0.1 being the latest update. When you start up the app for the first time, you are greeted with a pleasant British accent. It walks you through choosing your favorite news topics (for me – technology, entertainment, headlines, Twitter and Facebook feeds). Winston then asks you if you would allow location services and then it finishes installation. You are met with a magazine-style interface that has your topics arranged in blocks. The top block is “Briefing,” which goes through all your feeds.
The most interesting thing to me is that it doesn’t just read your feed verbatim. Winston is intuitive in its reporting. For example, if it is reading your Facebook feed, and someone has posted a new picture, Winston reports it like this. “Amanda has posted a new picture. Several people seem to like it,” or, “Nicholas has posted a story about MacBook Air. Maybe we should read it?” I was surprised by that. I was also surprised that when I opened the app the second time, I was greeted by name. Winston said, “Hello, Robyn. How can I assist you?”
If you are anything like me and sometimes have trouble keeping up with the world, install Winston and let it read the world to you.
