For years, the Newsstand app built-in to the iPhone and iPad was one most users immediately hid in a folder somewhere never to be opened again. In iOS 9, Apple pulled the plug on the mediocre app and decided to head in a different direction by releasing a new app simply called News.
In the past 10 months, News has by no means rocketed to stardom in the iOS app world, but it has performed much better than its predecessor. Rather than the old model, which required users to sign up for subscriptions to news outlets to gain access to stories, News is more of a glorified RSS reader. Think Flipboard or SmartNews, other popular news aggregators.
The News app features Apple’s simplistic design, but most users aren’t aware of its power hiding just beneath the surface. In this article, we’ll dive into a few ways you can get more out of Apple’s News app much like the 60 million other users that use the News App to browse more than 2,000 publications on a monthly basis.
How to manage your favorite channels
The first tab in Apple News is the For You section. Here, stories Apple’s algorithm determines are most relevant to you will be delivered. The easiest way to nudge the app in the right direction is adding news sources you’re interested in to your Favorites. You can do this by heading over to the Explore or Search tab and tapping the plus icon for channels and topics you are interested in following.
Once this is done, the For You section will be more tailored to your liking. Of course you can read articles from individual sources in the “Favorites” tab if you prefer more granularity. Also, you can unfollow sources by tapping Edit in the Favorites tab.
How to save an article for later and view your reading history
Apps like Instapaper and Pocket remain immensely popular as read later services, but the News app includes a simple option you can use for the same purpose. There are multiple ways to save an article to the Saved tab. While scrolling through a list of articles, you are able to swipe on one to reveal the Save option or you can 3D Touch and swipe up to reveal the same options if you’re using an iPhone 6s or 6s Plus. Additionally, when you are reading an article there is a bookmark icon located at the bottom right of the screen you can press to save the article for later.
Both articles you’ve saved for later and your viewing history can be accessed by tapping on the Saved tab from the apps front page. You can switch back and forth between saved articles and your history by selecting the different options at the top of the page.
iOS 10 News Improvements
With iOS 10, Apple plans on introducing new features to the News app. The “For You” section features all of the topics a user follows along with “Trending News,” and “Featured News,” a section with news suggestions hand-picked by Apple’s editors. iOS 10 News app has made it easier for sharing, liking, and disliking news stories, accessible by swiping to the left or the right on the screen. Apple News will now includes subscriptions, allowing users to read news from select publications within the News app. The new app can also send breaking news alerts to your iOS 10 lock screen, allowing you to quickly and easily get the news that you need.
This is also one of the many stock apps that you will be able to remove from your iPhone and iPad if you choose to starting with iOS 10.
If you have not given Apple’s News app a chance, it is certainly worth your time to setup and use. Like any app, it’s not for everyone but Apple has delivered a classy way to consume news with all the features most users need.