Posted on Monday, February 9th, 2015 by Will Hagle
Timeline is an app that weaves news events into rich, compelling stories with historical background.
Timeline is an app that uses historical timelines to create stories surrounding current news. The app was built on the principle that “the news is the short tail of a very long string of events.” Everything that’s happening today, according to that logic, is happening because of things that have happened before it. That’s a wordy way to describe the app, especially because the way in which it displays information is so clean and simple. The app features interactive timelines, with bullet points containing short, headline-style bits of news information along with a date and location.
Each of the bullet points in a particular timeline relate in some way to each other, and all of them lead to a more current, modern news story. It’s an interesting way to find historical context in the stories you’re reading about today, while also finding out new information about past events. Timeline is an important app for anyone who appreciates quality journalism, especially because it takes a step back from the constant news cycle to dig deeper and give a historical perspective. As the Timeline team says, “When others break the news, we break the history behind it.” Historical context is too often-forgotten in most major media stories, so Timeline offers a useful way to look at the news differently and more critically. Downloading the free iOS app is highly recommended.