Quartz’s news app is a hard sell. The program is literally deliver you news bits one at a time in an SMS format, complete with emojis and a UI that looks just like you’re texting someone. It’s a cool idea, but the mixed approach of placing emoji responses in with real hard-hitting news is odd, and I’m not sure what the target audience is.
What I do like about Quartz is that it takes mere seconds to setup, and doesn’t require a login. At the start you just flick off whether or not you want notifications, and the gimmick presents itself. Writers will provide you with a story, and if it interests you, you’ll select an emoji response (like a “tell me more” with the chin-rubbing face guy), or you can opt to go to the next story. That’s basically the app, give or take some quasi-interesting turns.
It probably sounds dumb to a lot of you on paper, but I actually bought into it somewhat. I like the idea of getting bite-sized news that I can engage with for a few minutes at a time, and then go about my day without getting overwhelmed by billions of stories and “breaking headlines” that usually involve movie stars and their daily habits.
