LineInfo: A one-stop shop for all Rwandan news feeds

What is LineInfo? Well, it is all about summarizing news. The app gathers news articles from various Rwanda online sources, then its algorithm extracts the key points from each story and summarises them into a few character paragraphs that fit neatly onto the phone screen. According to Remy Muhire, one of the founders and key developers of the application, this app was designed and developed to bring people breaking news and unrivalled coverage of national and international news from other channels to just one source. “For example if I want a quick look at what is happening, I just get to the app and peruse through the different stories,” he said. The news is filtered by category – sports, entertainment, lifestyle, technology, business, health and science among others. Users can however add their own keywords, remove certain sources and share stories on the social network. “In Rwanda, different newspapers cover different categories of news differently and for someone who wants a piece of everything, it’s hard for him to go to all the news papers. We make life easier for them and make it a one-stop centre for all news,” Muhire notes. LineInfo is also big on gestural controls. For instance if you wish to read the full story on the original source’s website, you simply swipe down or swipe sideways to move between summaries. LineInfo could be used for other kinds of content too, from academics to emails. In other words, there are plenty of licensing opportunities for the technology behind the app, which in turn means Muhire and his team can give that app a decent runway as a free product without having to wodge ads inappropriately. The only bit of the application that is still holding it back is the fact that it’s only on Android and not yet on Windows OS or iOS platforms, which is a setback for team iPhone people. After running on the play store for about 10 days, LineInfo already has 157 downloads and counting. There is a lot of great potential for the application and it will make life easy for anyone sourcing for quick news.

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LineInfo: A one-stop shop for all Rwandan news feeds