“Paper” Hopes To Dethrone Facebook App [VIDEO]

Facebook is probably one of the first, if not the first, applications most smartphone users download. Its ubiquity is undeniable, even with the rise of other social networks like Instagram (though Facebook bought that one before it could truly become a challenger). But instead of rising against the king, why not change the way the country uses his land?

That’s what “Paper,” released Monday in the U.S., intends to do. Instead of attempting to compete directly with Mark Zuckerberg’s empire, Paper uses Facebook in its own product. The layout is an homage to Medium and Flipbook -- it allows users to customize what they see in a magazine-style layout (ala Flipbook) and it employs a full-screen, photo-centric display for most stories and news instead of a scrolling wall.

The focus for “Paper” is to get Facebook users to spend more time on the content they consume; product designer Mike Matas said the company "really wants people to spend a little bit of time with it and appreciate that content, almost like when [they] go to a museum and [they] spend a little bit of time with each thing."

Unfortunately, “Paper” is only available on iOS and only Americans can download it. There’s no word on international or Android versions. Windows users shouldn’t hold their breaths, either.