Facebook will launch a standalone news reader app on Feb. 3. Here is what you ought to know.

Facebook unveiled Thursday morning its highly anticipated news reader app called Paper, which mixes content shared by your folks with news from quite a lot of publications. The app would be available for download on iOS devices within the US on Feb. 3.

Paper is the primary app launched by Facebook Creative Labs, an initiative to develop and design new apps for phones. Here is likely the primary of many “new and tasty forms of mobile experiences” that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg alluded to in its latest earnings call. Facebook reported Wednesday that it generates greater than 1/2 its advertising revenue from mobile.

Facebook’s new concentrate on standalone apps and mobile is a natural and necessary next step for the social network, said Rebecca Lieb, industry analyst at Altimeter Group. They’re goldmines for both user data and advertising dollars.

[Get a grip for your Facebook account. Read 10 Most Misunderstood Facebook Privacy Facts.]

“Facebook is becoming increasingly about news discovery: We have seen that once it recently launched Trending, as an instance, and Paper is a continuation of that on a mobile platform,” Lieb said in an interview. “Paper feels like a play to both leverage the manner persons are using Facebook, that is on mobile and for news discovery, and clearly to monetize it.” Paper may be ad-free when it launches on Monday, Facebook said, at the least for now.

While Paper will launch ad-free, it’s unlikely it might stay that way for long, Lieb said.

“We all know Facebook is aggressively courting mobile advertisers, and advertising on editorial content is something that they are all pleased with,” Lieb said. “There is a high degree of customization on Paper, that will provide Facebook with more data about what its users have an interest in and can help businesses better target their advertising.”

Here’s a preview of Paper, plus information about Facebook’s newest app.

1. You decide your content topics.
Much like a newspaper, Facebook’s Paper app is made from sections so you might add in line with your interests. The primary section in Paper is your News Feed, where you are able to browse photos, videos, and longer posts. You’ll notice that the inside track Feed section on Paper is displayed differently from what you’re used to on Facebook: The highest 1/2 the screen shows photos and videos, while the ground half shows updates and links to content that your pals have shared, you could swipe through.

More than 12 other sections can be found so that you can add to Paper. These include “Score” for sports news, “Headlines” for world news, “Cute” for animal stories, “Planet” for science and sustainability content, “Enterprise” for business news, in addition to photography (“Exposure”), food (“Flavor”), and themed pages that adjust daily, called “Ideas.”

2. It’s greater than an e-reader.
While Facebook’s new app is meant that can assist you discover new content, it also permits you to share stories and post your individual content to Facebook (and thus Paper) from the app.

3. It’s gesture-heavy.
Maneuvering around Paper may take some being used to: It requires learning to make various gestures within the right places, reminiscent of where to swipe, tap, pinch, and tilt.

In Paper, images are shown in full screen. This implies you should tilt your device to browse images corner to corner. To flip through stories, swipe from right to left. Tapping one will unfold it to display in full-screen mode. Pinch the tale to fold it back up and return in your Paper feed.

Check out Facebook’s video below:

Senior editor Kristin Burnham covers social media, social business, and IT leadership and careers for InformationWeek.com. Contact her at Kristin.Burnham@ubm.com or follow her on Twitter: @kmburnham.

Too many companies treat digital and mobile strategies as pet projects. Listed below are four ideas to shake up your organization. Also within the Disruption issue of InformationWeek: Six enduring truths about selecting enterprise software (free registration required).