Springpad iOS, Android App Now Lets You Embed Notebooks Online

Hot on the heels of Flipboard, the newly redesigned Springpad iOS and Android app turns users into publishers.

Flipboard 2.0, released for iPhones and iPads in late March, lets you add articles you read to your own personally curated ‘magazines.’ Other Flipboarders can subscribe to your magazines, and you can share them to connected social networks.

Letting users share their own Flipboard magazines is a logical extension of that excellent, free app. The same is true with Springpad, a sleek app that lets you create lists, record notes with text, images, or audio, and capture Web content. I prefer Springpad to its rival Evernote, mainly because I’ve always found the former’s interface more intuitive and engaging.

Version 4.0 of Springpad, released in late March for iOS and in early April for Android, makes this free app even more valuable. You can create notebooks on any topic and embed them on your Web site or blog for others to follow. Whenever you update one of those notebooks, Springpad users who follow them will automatically receive the new content in their app. A few online publishers are already publishing Springpad notebooks for followers, including Glamour magazine and Del Monte.

Not interested in being a content curator? Springpad 4.0 has other goodies you might like. The improved search function now lets you search by activity, such as ‘Watch,’ ‘Cook,’ ‘Read,’ and ‘Shop.’ If you’re looking for recipes stored in various notebooks, for instance, click the ‘Cook’ button to browse through them. I also like that when you add a new note or Web clipping, you no longer have to assign it to a specific notebook.

If you’re an Evernote devotee, I doubt Springpad 4.0 will sway you. But if you’ve yet to commit to a notes/organization/Web-clipping app, give Springpad a try.