Magnify Beta receives massive update, Today's Word gets a new look

Magnify Beta is a beautiful RSS reader for Windows Phone which has gone through numerous updates, including one changing the branding. It’s still currently in open beta and today we're looking at version 3.0.7 being released to the store. As well as Magnify Beta, vocabulary assistant Today's Word has also been bumped, hitting version 1.5 with a new design.

Head past the break to check out the full list of changes.

Magnify Beta 3.0.7.0

This is quite the update, bringing with it a new swivel article view, brand new dark theme and the ability to fetch an article in full for further reading. There are multiple apps out there that offer similar functionality, as well as connectivity to the vast array of services out there, but Magnify is becoming a top dog with these substantial updates. Here's a quick look at the app:

And here's the full change log for version 3.0.7.0, now available on the store:

  • New Swivel article reading view.
  • Brand new Dark reading theme!
  • Added ability to fetch full article for reading.
  • App tile is now a wide tile.
  • Turning on Live Tiles should cycle images on app and secondary tiles.
  • Show Magnify on your phone's lockscreen (ensure you have turned on "Show unread count on Live Tiles")
  • Added ability to save article image to phone.
  • Added ability to hide articles marked as read under Settings.
  • Added Help, About and What's New pages under Settings.
  • Added option to show exit app prompt.
  • Reduced duration needed to update feeds.
  • Unread count for Live Tiles can be turned off again.
  • Changed color of hyperlinks to improve legibility in the dark theme.
  • Changed background color of unloaded images to better suit the dark theme.
  • Added ability to stop auto-scrolling in parallax scrolling by touching any where on the screen.
  • Diacritic characters should show up properly now.
  • Manual app reset should remove all previously pinned Live Tiles.
  • In-app unread count should be updated correctly now.
  • Improved image quality in non-parallax scrolling mode.
  • Moved parallax scrolling option to Settings page.

You can download Magnify Beta from the Windows Phone Store for free. We highly recommend you check out the beta should you be looking for a feed manager. Cheers, Yu Ming, for the tip!

Today's Word

Today's Word 1.5.0

There are many ways to increase your vocabulary, and Today's Word is a perfect solution available for your Windows Phone. The app provides a new word on a daily basis to help you get started. There's also the ability to check previous words just in case you somehow missed them. Today's update for the app includes a new theme with a handful of UI tweaks.

The color change from brown to orange is a great alteration, giving the interface some more 'bounce' and life. This change comes from the developer taking part in a design consultation with the folk at DVLUP.

It's a simple, but effective app and the best part about Today's Word is it is completely free. Grab Today's Word from the Windows Phone Store.

Rich Edmonds
Senior Editor, PC Build

Rich Edmonds was formerly a Senior Editor of PC hardware at Windows Central, covering everything related to PC components and NAS. He's been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a PC chassis. You can follow him on Twitter at @RichEdmonds.