LinkedIn launched its long-awaited iPad app late Wednesday, along with revamped versions of its iPhone and Android apps. Redesigned from the ground up, the tablet version looks nothing like the LinkedIn website; it's more akin to a social news aggregator.
"This was a chance to go back to the drawing board," says Mario Sundar, LinkedIn's social media manager. "To design it for how people use the iPad: morning and night infotainment."
The app's main screen is a clean, simple interface with just three options: updates, profile and inbox. The latter two are self-explanatory, although it's worth mentioning that the list of people who've looked at your profile -- a voyeuristic option hidden deep on the website -- is front and center here.
It's "updates" where the app shines, and turns into a kind of socially-enhanced Flipboard. You see stories your friends have shared, beautifully laid out, alongside such nuggets of news as which of your friends have changed their jobs recently.(Download it in the app store here.)
The app also pulls in details of the day ahead from your Google Calendar or Exchange calendar. LinkedIn expects you'll use it over breakfast, when you're torn between work and news, as well as take it to meetings.
It's been a long time coming -- longer even than the much-delayed Facebook iPad app. LinkedIn has 150 million users, and the iPad is the fastest growing device on the network. More than 22% of LinkedIn traffic comes from mobile devices; a year ago, that figure was 8%.
What do you make of the LinkedIn iPad app? Will you use it? Let us know in the comments.
