Why Every 20-Something Is Downloading This Brilliant App
theSkimm makes it easier to be smarter.
If you haven't already heard of theSkimm, you're totally missing out.
The daily e-newsletter boils down the day's news stories into quippy digestible segments, perfect for a morning commute read—and I can personally say from 2+ years of reading, it does this very well.
theSkimm has the wholehearted support of a huge (3.5 million kind of huge) subscriber base, with celeb endorsements from Reese Witherspoon, Jill Biden, Karlie Kloss, Shonda Rhimes and Oprah, so if you aren't getting it in the morning, you should be*.
If you read a sample, you'll quickly understand why. The effortless fusion of humor and pop culture with relevant news makes for a fun read, plus they don't talk down to you like you should understand something you don't. They even create handy Skimm Guides for complicated topics like OPEC, The Ukraine Conflict and the Panama Papers.
*Even though these are all women, this newsletter is not exclusively for women by any means. Two women started it and write with an inherent girlfriend-talking-to-a-girlfriend kind of tone, but everyone can appreciate their humor.
Lucky for us, theSkimm just upped their game with an app so good it should be mandatory to have on your phone.
The new app, Skimm Ahead, is basically the Marauder's Map for all YoPros. Here's why:
While theSkimm newsletter lets you know what happened yesterday and what's going on right now, Skimm Ahead takes it one step further and tells you what you should be looking out for in the future.
1. It's so, so helpful
As weird as it may sound, looking ahead and understanding what's coming (not just what is trending on Twitter right now) is a fairly uncommon practice for most of us today. And even if you really don't care much about when the OPEC meeting is or when the US Open starts, knowing what's up ahead of time makes it easier to stay relevant both personally and professionally.
Plus, it'll also probably help you impress your boss at some point, and we all know that's v. important.
2. It's relevant
Like the Daily Skimm, events include the same pithy titles and descriptions, with a fun splash of emojis. And the range is impressive as well—they'll notify you of the Preakness, Billboard Music Awards and the G7 Summit or the White House Correspondent's Dinner (aka the "Nerd Prom in D.C.").
The events are completely customizable, so you can disable notifications like I did, and delete some that are really irrelevant to your life. And with a six-month forward scope, you're not missing out on anything anytime soon.
3. It's convenient
Skimm Ahead offers integration directly into your iPhone's calendar so you won't forget that "Orange is the New Black" is coming back next week or that you should probably order your mom a Mother's Day gift already.
It also incorporates access to The Daily Skimm (with a notification) if you'd rather read it there than in your email and they offer links to other relevant articles on topics that you may want a little more on.
4. It's cheap
The app does cost $3/month, but as theSkimm rightly notes, that's less than you probably spend on Starbucks every day anyway, so just download it already. You'll thank me later.