Home > News > Topicfire Review

Topicfire

News Aggregation Ranking Service

Published on 07/05/2010

Rated 2 out of 5 stars by AppAppeal Editor

Alternative Apps

What can you use the app for?

Topicfire provides real-time breaking news based on popularity. The application uses a computation that takes social media sharing into account as it determines the rank of the story.

What is the history and popularity of the app?

The site has an average of approximately 10,500 unique visitors per month. Technology news is relatively easy to find via Twitter, Digg, and other means, but for other topics it is not so easy. Cofounded by Ryan Sit and Jonathan Neddenriep, Topicfire was created to fill that void and offer a resource for the latest hot news stories in a variety of subject areas.

What are the differences to other apps?

Using a HeatRank algorithm to rank content by popularity, the application filters out unpopular content. It measures social media mentions and ranks news stories from 10 – super hot to 1 – lukewarm. Topicfire also covers the hottest news in a variety of topic areas, where many tools (Techmeme and others) only cover technology-based stories.

How does the web app look and feel to use?

Topicfire is easy to use. The home page can be personalized by adding topics of interest from a fairly comprehensive menu that includes the topics beer, cheese, and World of Warcraft in addition to more traditional topics. The handy slider at the top of the feed allows users to filter results by rank. Updates are live, in real time, and the notification chime can be turned on or off. Each new story headline is linked to the original news article for in-depth reading. There are also lists of Twitter and Facebook breaking news usernames if users wish to follow or “like” the applications.

How does the registration process work?

No registration is needed, but users have the option of logging in with Facebook to save or load topic preferences.

What does it cost to use the application?

Topicfire is completely free to use.

Who would you recommend the application to?

Anyone who likes to know the latest and hottest news stories in a variety of topic areas will enjoy using Topicfire. The ability to choose specific topics and limit results by rank will be appreciated by those wanting only the hottest news stories.

Topicfire Features