Becoming all too aware of the crazy amount of content being created by people around you in recent years? Apparently companies like Feedly and Flipboard have too — and have created huge businesses around them by aggregating content and repackaging them to more readable forms.
But readability (another company doing the same thing, by the way) was never enough to keep users coming back to the platform. Think about the number of times you forgot or didn’t think to bring up Readability, or even Flipboard. Can’t remember?
Exactly.
Now, this forgetfulness can be for many reasons. But an important reason could be flawed content curation. Think about it: Flipboard curates content based on popularity on the internet, and aggregator apps like Feedly populates your reading list from sources that you approve.
What if the missing element is Location?
None of these apps will home in on what immediately matters to you. In your neighbourhood. Around your home.
That is exactly what a Singapore based startup is doing. Feecha, a mobile app available on both Android and iOS, aggregates news relevant to your geographic location. During the sign up process, the first input the app asks of you is your areas of interest.
Live in Bishan? Choose that along with a few other hotspots of your social activities and you’re all set to be up to date with important news, promotions, events, and more around the area.
While source of content on Feecha are “hand picked” by its curators, you may not want to hear about nightlife because you’re more of an introvert and prefer to hop cafes. For this, the app’s solution is to ask your preferences upon first login among many categories spanning news to nightlife. (At the moment, though, it seems like there’s no way to change those preferences after you’ve first chosen them — UPDATE: Jeff says you can do this, but may be a little hidden. On the list of neighbourhood channels, tap on a channel’s dropdown icon on the right and then tap the black-colored gear icon to edit that channel.)
Feecha’s CEO, Jeffrey Yuwono, is also the boss of The Ching Chong Group — an umbrella company that has other companies in its portfolio, including mobile games Antagonize! and The Flight of Flo Flo.
According to an interview by I-S, Jeffrey says that Feecha is all about relevance.
“On Feecha, the people you talk to and the things you talk about literally share common ground.”
Only time will tell if the app is built in a way that compels discussion on its platform instead of Twitter or Facebook (which are, of course, sources of content for Feecha). At least its user interface at the moment is delightful.
Also read: Buy and sell on these mobile apps for Chinese New Year 2014