It's amazing what a talented developer can do with an RSS feed. Some of the most popular apps for any smartphone are simply prettier, touch-friendlier versions of go-to websites. So if you're a big fan of Windows Phone news and especially Nokia hardware, you may want to check out Nokia Conversations.

The app is an unofficial reader for the Nokia Conversations blog, but if you're familiar with the stellar design chops found in Nokia's exclusive apps you'd swear this was an official app. The developer, SINelson, has done an absolutely phenomenal job translating the website's stark blue design into an finger-friendly format. All of the content comes from Nokia's capable writing staff, and it's not just a series of dry press releases. It's actually a very personable blog with frequent editorial content and app recommendations. Loading up the Nokia Conversations app shows a header image and then a thumbnail list of the articles below.


Jumping into the article view, you're presented with the article's main image displayed edge-to-edge with the text content below. Underneath the article title you have two interactive options: sharing the article through the People Hub, or pinning it as a tile to the Start screen. In our experience, after we tapped to share an article and tried tapping back to the app, it would actually close out to the Start screen. We noticed this very frequently, so make sure you're aware of that annoying little bug.

Finally, there's one last little design flourish of the app: the comments section. The app imports the DISQUS-powered comments found on the Nokia Conversations blog, and it wraps it in a very cool section underneath the article. Simply swipe up on the light blue Comments bar from anywhere in the article, and you can read the comments as if they are sitting atop the article content. It's tough to describe, but it's a neat trick and you can see what that looks like at 2:15 in our video review.

Despite the aforementioned hiccup with the Share option for articles, Nokia Conversations by SINelson is a phenomenal, simple, and gorgeous app for reading the blog conveniently from your smartphone. It's no surprise that Nokia and CEO Stephen Elop himself have given the app their seal of approval. The app is available for free with ads in the Marketplace, and if you're a Nokia fan you'd be stupid not to pick this one up.

Nokia Conversations by SINelson Version: 1.0 Price: Free Trial: N/A Marketplace Link