If you dig the California lifestyle, the Los Angeles Times iPhone app is perfect for you. The app has a cool and casual design, while still delivering the hard-edged news that comes pouring out of Southern California on a daily basis.
The home page of the app includes two sliding screens. The top screen includes headlines that you can scroll through. The bottom screen lists news categories, including business, entertainment, environment, and politics.
Once you select a story to read, the full text appears in the bottom screen, and a photo slide show appears in the top screen. The partition that separates the two screens can be adjusted up and down for easier reading. As you scroll down through the story, the photos at the top move across in a synchronized manner.
The app does have its downfalls, however. The biggest drawback is its lack of search capabilities. If you want to seek out the latest from the Los Angeles Times’ most popular columnist, Steve Lopez, for example, you are out of luck.
Further, the app does not include any sports coverage. Fans looking for news on the Lakers, USC, or UCLA will be disappointed. They will have to download a second app, the Los Angeles Times Sports Reader, which seems a bit unnecessary.
