Why You Can Trust CNET LinkedIn for Android review: Powerful professional networking on the go
Improved search and in-app job applications make LinkedIn for Android a must-have for anyone who's serious about the professional networking site.
Editors' note: This review was updated August 6, 2013, to cover the features added in the latest version.
LinkedIn for Android
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
The officialLinkedIn mobile app for Android offers a sleek interface for accessing the popular professional networking service while on the go. While it may not come loaded with all the functionality of the full, browser-based site, the app can perform most of LinkedIn's primary functions and gives access to its most frequently used tools.
Just like the full Web site, LinkedIn's interface revolves around the user's stream, which displays content including status updates, connection updates, news, posts from the influencers you follow, job changes, and so on. According to the app's developers, this stream gives you a different experience depending on how you use the app. For instance, the algorithm powering the stream selects top stories since your last visit if you're an infrequent visitor, and shows all of the most recent updates if you're a more habitual user of the application, which is a nice touch. What's more, all of this is packaged in an attractive and geometric Home screen with sharp corners and large images, similar to Google+.
To update your LinkedIn status, just hit the Compose button at the top of the Home screen. From there, you'll be able to set the visibility of your post to be seen by anyone or connections only, and choose whether to publish your update to Twitter at the same time -- conveniences that are also available on the Web.
With the Home screen now completely dedicated to your stream, all of the app's navigation has been neatly tucked into a slide-out panel on the left, again making it similar to Google+. Here you get one-tap access to your profile, messages, and notifications, as well as a Home screen icon that continuously shuffles through the latest updates from your stream. But the real beauty of this navigation panel is its flexibility. With a few taps, you can customize it with shortcuts to other parts of the app, such as Groups, Companies, News, or Jobs.
If you use LinkedIn for research, then you might be disappointed to find that power features like alumni search, skill search, polls, and company insights are missing. Of course, most people won't need to access these on the go, but it's still worth mentioning that they are, as yet, unavailable. That said, with LinkedIn's recent investment in mobile, I'm sure the company will add at least a few of these features in the near future.
With so many people using LinkedIn to find work, it's no wonder the app's developers recently expanded LinkedIn's mobile functionality to let you search for jobs, save jobs, and check out recommended jobs based on your background. For some listings, you can even apply with your LinkedIn profile right from the mobile app. What you still can't do, though, is share jobs, which is an important feature for those of us who are keeping an eye out for friends.
Previously, my biggest issue with LinkedIn for Android was its weak search. But with recent updates, the app has significantly improved in this area, adding a comprehensive tool that lets you search for jobs, people, companies, and groups. It even pulls up search results while you type, which is helpful if you're unsure of how to spell what you're searching for.
While the LinkedIn app isn't quite on par with the full desktop version of the site yet, recent improvements have certainly closed the gap some. It has a simple and clean interface, more powerful search than before, and new in-app job applications. With these additions, the LinkedIn mobile app should take care of most of your professional networking needs.