LinkedIn spruces up mobile app to widen appeal
April 18, 2013 | 5:12pm
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Online professional networking service LinkedIn is dressing up its mobile application to impress people who are increasingly scrolling through content on smartphones.
The changes being unveiled Thursday mark LinkedIn Corp.'s first major overhaul of its mobile app in 20 months.
Since then, more than 80 million additional accounts have been opened on LinkedIn's website to push its total beyond 200 million users worldwide.
More of those people are checking LinkedIn on mobile devices as they look for career tips, job leads and interesting information about companies and industries. LinkedIn features plenty of that content, but it hasn't been easy to find on its mobile app. By making all that easier, LinkedIn is hoping people will come back more often, giving the company more opportunities to sell advertising.
The new design relies on formulas that are supposed to figure out which features and topics are the most appealing to each user and ensure that those services are just one tap away. Finding some content on LinkedIn's previous app required up to four taps to the frustration of many users who only had a couple minutes of free time, said Joff Redfern, the company's head of mobile products.
In case LinkedIn's formulas don't get their preferences quite right, users will be able to program the new app to highlight specific types of content.
LinkedIn's new app also will display photos and other graphics more prominently within a stream of updates. The stream will look similar to what people who frequent Facebook see on smartphones and tablet computers.
The new app is being released for devices running Google Inc.'s Android software, as well as for Apple Inc.'s iPhone and iPod Touch. LinkedIn isn't making any changes to its year-old app for the iPad yet.
The revamped phone app was born out of LinkedIn's belief that professional networking is growing as more people realize they can advance their careers by using online tools more effectively.
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