Flipboard turns to QR codes to encourage you to read on the web

A month to the day after Flipboard launched a full web-based version of its digital magazine/content aggregating app, the company has revealed an interesting new feature designed to make it easier for existing mobile users to access their saved articled through a desktop browser.

While QR codes may feel a little passé to some in 2015, this is what Flipboard is using to ease the friction between reading on smartphones and PCs.

So, let’s say you’re logged in to Flipboard on Android, but you find yourself in front of your laptop craving the big-screen reading experience. All you do is scan the QR code at the bottom of the login screen and you’re good to go. Also, anyone who uses Flipboard without an account can use this feature to transfer their saved articles to their desktop browser.

With north of $160 million in funding since its inception in 2010, and more than 100 million users, Flipboard has always been a popular application, and has even won Apple’s coveted iPad app of the year award for 2010. But it hasn’t always offered a clear plan for making a huge return on the investments made in it, turning to advertising as its main monetization conduit and selling brands full-page ads within the app.

Anything that encourages eyeballs to remain on Flipboard, be it through mobile or desktop, has to be a good thing for the Palo Alto, California-based company.