LinkedIn revamps mobile apps with visually rich stream, better navigation

LinkedIn has released a huge update for its iPhone and Android apps – a first big one in nearly two years. The revamped app has seen a major overhaul as far as the design and navigation is concerned. Most importantly, users will also be seeing advertisements in the form of sponsored content on LinkedIn Mobile now.

“We want to make it easier for our members to quickly discover and engage with the rich professional insights being shared across LinkedIn to help them make smarter decisions from wherever they may be working,” wrote Tomer Cohen in a blog announcing the revamp. “We’ve designed the new LinkedIn mobile phone app for every professional, with a richer and more engaging stream and more personalization features.”

The first thing you will notice about the app is that it is very pleasing on the eye. The images are more defined and in focus as compared to the earlier email app-like look. All the news, updates, original posts from influencers and more will be part of the visually rich stream now.

Cleaner, neater app along with better navigation

In a way, the overhauled app is reminiscent of the visually rich iPad app that was released in April last year.
 
The older icon-based navigation has been revamped too. Now you will have to use the sliding pane to navigate within LinkedIn. You can even personalise shortcuts on the pane, which will help you move around inside the app faster. Interacting too has been made easy by adding the ability to like and comment on activities without having to leave the stream. Given this new update, LinkedIn is definitely looking like Facebook for professionals.

This is not just a big update for LinkedIn in years, it is also LinkedIn’s first big update after having acquired Pulse , the news reader app. After rumours of the acquisition were floating around for years, LinkedIn finally closed the deal at somewhere around $90 million, consisting of 90 percent stock and 10 percent cash.

LinkedIn aims to be the definitive publishing platform and said that it expects Pulse to be the perfect complement to that vision. The company said that it was going to be working “side by side with the Pulse team to create new and better ways to help professionals contribute to and leverage this collective body of business knowledge to help them be great at what they do and from wherever they work.”

LinkedIn has been going from strength to strength in the past few months and the release of the revamped app will feel like cherry on the cake for the company. It was only in January that LinkedIn had announced that the professional social networking website had hit the 200 million member mark. The company had also announced that approximately two new people joined LinkedIn every second.

A large chunk of these 200 million users end up using LinkedIn on their mobile phones and this update is bound to make them happy. The makeover has been extended to the mobile web app of LinkedIn too.

You can grab LinkedIn for iPhone from the App Store and for Android from the Play Store.