New News-Reading App From Apple Is a Flipboard Clone And Aimed at Facebook
At the recent WWDC 2015, Apple released a new news-reading app which looked eerily similar to Flipboard. The News app replaces the old Newsstand app.
Called Apple News, the app will create personal feeds based on users' reading habits. The app will track over one million topics.
Early partners for Apple News include publishers like Conde Nast, which publishes Wired magazine, New York Times, BuzzFeed, ESPN and others. The service is rolling out initially in United States, United Kingdom and Australia.
"We think there's never been such a beautiful reading and news experience," said Apple vice president Susan Prescott. She added stories specially formatted for the app will look especially sharp, calling it the "best mobile reading experience ever" with built-in photos, videos, and infographics.
The format is close to Flipboard, the personal social-network aggregator app that creates a magazine-like display of a user's chosen social media and websites. The service sees around 65 million monthly active users.
Apple News will also learn users' preferences and show them other stories based on what they read. "News is smart," Prescott added. "The more I read the better it gets at showing me stories I'm interested in."
Despite its smart features and appealing aesthetic, Apple may have an uphill battle driving users to another standalone news app. A cursory search for "news reader" this morning in the App Store yields 1,069 results; "news" results in 23,275 options. There's Flipboard, Feedly, Newsify, Google News, and Smart News. There's mobile apps for CNN, Fox, NPR, BBC, NYTimes, NBC, BuzzFeed-to name a few. And, of course, there's Twitter and Facebook, Wired noted.
