AI news app Artifact from Instagram co-founders on Android, iOS

The co-founders of Instagram are opening the doors to their new custom news app, Artifact. Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger's new app launched last month with a waiting list, but now anyone with iOS or Android can download Artifact to try it out for themselves.

Despite the pedigree of Artifact's creators, it has yet to revolutionize how we consume news on our phones. There's a home tab with a feed of articles Artifact thinks we'll like, and while the feed usually has things we are interested in, the app's algorithmic sorting means we'll often get days-old news that we don't care about.

A "Titles" tab offers collections of articles arranged by topic, but we don't usually go through that much. The profile tab, however, may be more interesting, thanks to a new feature that will display your reading history after reading ten articles. If I have to opt, my top three categories will be tech companies, news related to tech and artificial intelligence.

Artifact also introduces some other new features. You'll be able to thumb down on an article to see fewer articles like it, a feature we give a thumbs up to. You will also be able to sync your contacts with the app, and if you do, the app will inform you about the famous articles within your network. That sounds like Nuzzel, and while it could be helpful, people need to be more careful with syncing contacts with an app.