Review: The Ted Talks app brings tons of video lectures to iOS
Ted Talks—a collection of short video lectures that has a huge online audience—have been around long enough that the parodies can sometimes seem fresher. The Onion and last year’s blockbuster movie Prometheus have both created riffs on the Ted formula that are, by turns, wickedly funny and a bit scary. Even so, the series remains incredibly popular, and that popularity will only be sustained and enhanced by the latest version of the free Ted app for iPhone and iPad.
When the app originally launched in 2010, it offered access to more than 700 videos. That number has since grown to more than 1000 videos—with new offerings added each day—featuring lectures on topics ranging from feminism to biology, from education to poverty, and from creativity to so much more.
There are several ways to sift through all of this content. One is to sit back, relax, and simply watch your way through the list of 60 or so “featured” talks the app offers, in a mix that churns often enough that you’ll never run out of fresh lectures. Another is to jump into the “All Talks” section and dig through the videos based either on the themes or tags.
My favorite, though, is to use the app’s “Inspire Me” function. You can choose the experience you hope to see demonstrated—ranging from “courageous” to “jaw dropping” to “beautiful”—then tell the app how long you want to sit and listen to the lectures. The app then conjures a playlist to match your mood and available time. You can bookmark both individual videos and video playlists, or you can download them to your device for later offline viewing.
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