First look: Apple's News app debuts in latest iOS 9 beta

Posted:
in iPhone edited July 2015
The newest pre-release version of Apple's next-generation mobile operating system brought the first public release of the company's News app, an app and cloud service unveiled at WWDC and designed to act as an aggregator for news and commentary.




The News app's user interface will be familiar to anyone who has used Apple Music, and its functionality is much the same as long-popular apps like Pocket or Flipboard. On first run, users are asked to choose at least three publications or categories that they'd like to read about, information which News uses to populate the For You feed.

Also included, but previously unannounced, is the ability to receive daily news digests via email. At the moment, there is no facility to designate which address you'd like to receive the digest at, a situation that will presumably be rectified by the time the service goes live.

For news brought in from websites like AppleInsider, News will display the headline and an introductory paragraph with a "Read Full Story" link. Tapping this or dragging it upward will reveal the web version of the story.


On iPad, News takes on a more newspaper-like layout.


Users can browse their selected publications from the Favorites section, or add additional news sources or categories using the Explore section. Explore is populated with suggested channels and topics, as well as a list of what appears to be the top publications in a number of categories like sports and travel.

Search can be used to find new topics, categories, or specific publications. News's Saved function is much like Pocket, allowing users to save stories for later reading, and also includes a web browser-style history menu.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 19
    koopkoop Posts: 337member
    On the edge of my seat here folks.
  • Reply 2 of 19
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member

    I'm surprised AI was approved to have a channel on Apple News.

  • Reply 3 of 19
    nielmannielman Posts: 2member
    Let's hope it will get jailbreak as soon as it's released. Just like the one for iOS 8.4: http://goo.gl/ifK4bJ
  • Reply 4 of 19
    nhughesnhughes Posts: 770editor
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mstone View Post

     

    I'm surprised AI was approved to have a channel on Apple News.




    Apparently you missed AppleInsider being featured in the News app during the WWDC 2015 keynote.

     

  • Reply 5 of 19
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by nhughes View Post

     



    Apparently you missed AppleInsider being featured in the News app during the WWDC 2015 keynote.

     

     


    No, just mentioning it because of the previous legal issues between the two organizations.

  • Reply 6 of 19
    smcartersmcarter Posts: 38member
    How will digital subscriptions be handled under this model? For example, I have a NY Times digital subscription for all my devices.
  • Reply 7 of 19
    schlackschlack Posts: 719member
    i don't really get this app. why would news orgs want to have their content syndicated to this app? how do they monetize their content? do they get to embed their ads into their news stories in the app?
  • Reply 8 of 19
    emoelleremoeller Posts: 574member
    Too similar to FlipBoard, which I am personally addicted to on my iPad. I don't think I would use this.
  • Reply 9 of 19
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by koop View Post



    On the edge of my seat here folks.

     

    Some of us are looking forward to this. Not only does it looks like a very well designed app and aggregator, but it also serves the purpose of reducing the usage of Google, etc, out of the box. I still haven't found a content aggregator I love, there's a good chance this will become my go-to. 

  • Reply 10 of 19
    sricesrice Posts: 120member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by schlack View Post



    i don't really get this app. why would news orgs want to have their content syndicated to this app? how do they monetize their content? do they get to embed their ads into their news stories in the app?



    Monitize via iAd vs web ads which are about the get blocked on iOS.  Apple kicks Google in the nutz.

  • Reply 11 of 19
    christopher126christopher126 Posts: 4,366member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Srice View Post

     



    Monitize via iAd vs web ads which are about the get blocked on iOS.  Apple kicks Google in the nutz.


    Funny. Sounds like a line from HBO's Silicone Valley show. :)

  • Reply 12 of 19
    creek0512creek0512 Posts: 111member

    No mention of the 10 stories using the Apple News Format?

  • Reply 13 of 19
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    srice wrote: »

    Monitize via iAd vs web ads which are about the get blocked on iOS.  Apple kicks Google in the nutz.

    Content publishes aren't required to use iAd. If they do their own selling they keep 100% if they use iAd they share with Apple.
  • Reply 14 of 19
    eliangonzaleliangonzal Posts: 490member
    So, what happens to Newsstand? Does it become a folder with the apps inside shunted to the side after the system is upgraded? I know the answer has been listed somehwere, I just cannot seem to find it.
  • Reply 15 of 19
    hittrj01hittrj01 Posts: 753member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Elian Gonzalez View Post



    So, what happens to Newsstand? Does it become a folder with the apps inside shunted to the side after the system is upgraded? I know the answer has been listed somehwere, I just cannot seem to find it.



    It looks like this replaces Newsstand, as Newsstand hasn't been present in either of the previous two betas. I would imagine content within Newsstand will now be treated as normal apps, as it always should have been.

  • Reply 16 of 19

    Are Apple to late to the party with the News app?  There are already Flipboard and Microsoft News...and I am sure others.    

  • Reply 17 of 19
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member

    A lot of individual news sites already are aggregators, e.g. all the Mac sites repost each other's stories, due to the pressures of the 24 hour news cycle and the desire to get clicks. And the general (non-tech) media all post a lot of the same wire stories as each other, same exact wording, taken from AP or Reuters, and just add some of their own analysis/opinion. And if that fails you, following your favorite sites' Twitter feeds creates a single aggreated stream. A "news aggregator app" seems like a concept from earlier days of the Internet to me, back when RSS was all the rage.

  • Reply 18 of 19
    nhughesnhughes Posts: 770editor
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Elian Gonzalez View Post



    So, what happens to Newsstand? Does it become a folder with the apps inside shunted to the side after the system is upgraded? I know the answer has been listed somehwere, I just cannot seem to find it.



    The Newsstand app is done. Any publications you had in Newsstand are presented in iOS 9 as native, standalone apps. These apps are automatically placed into a home screen folder named "Newsstand."

  • Reply 19 of 19
    dereksonderekson Posts: 30member

    I like the idea of the news app for my iPhone and iPad, and I even see after installing the beta that it will sync between them via iCloud, but how do I get access to the same compilation of news I want to read via my MacBook? I'd love to be able to use this to avoid skimming the news sites I currently skim on the Mac as well, but if I'm unable to coordinate my reading between Mac and iOS then it's of limited use to me.

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