Facebook is dead, long live Paper.
Mark Zuckerberg’s Flipboard-meets-Facebook-Mobile app has raked in positive review after positive review since its release Monday. 
And with good reason — Paper redefines how the world’s largest social network exists outside of a computer.
While the normal app looks more or less like it’s desktop counterpart on a smaller screen, Paper aims to make itself your central news hub.
Much like Flipboard, the app combines posts from your Facebook friends with big news stories from major news outlets. There’s a sort of “cover story” that takes up the top half of the screen. Anything with a lot of likes, shares, or a big, hi-res photo will usually be in that top half.
The rest of the screen is taken up by small story cards that can be swiped through.
It’s a beautiful layout with a few minor problems — for one, there’s no way to rotate through the top stories manually that I could find. You just have to wait for the app to change by itself. 
Furthermore, there’s no obvious way to update the stories on the bottom half of your screen. The usual “pull to refresh” doesn’t appear — though swiping right from your soonest story does trigger a refresh, it’s just not clear.
Luckily, the app doesn’t just beautify your high school friend’s 8th posting of Buzzfeed’s “51 Photos Only ‘90s Kids Will Understand.” You can add stories from different subjects, like tech, headlines, sports, photography, etc., and articles and photos relating to those topics appear the same way your Facebook timeline appears.
But arguably the best part of Paper is how smooth and flowing the app feels. There are almost no framerate drops, and swiping between cards and opening stories has a very bouncy, rubbery and elastic feel.
Just watch this video to get an idea:
I’m not exaggerating when I say Paper is the best Facebook app ever released. It can’t change the content of your Facebook feed, but it sure as hell can make it look great.  It’s only available for iOS right now, but it’s quickly found its place on my home screen.
This is what Facebook should be. Not blue and show and text, but bright and vibrant with huge images and an emphasis on design. 
Plus, it gets normal Facebook notifications and had Messenger built in. It can, in all senses of the word, replace Facebook on your phone.
If you haven’t downloaded Paper yet, do so. You won’t miss the old app. 

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