When you download the latest iOS version (iOS 9), you’ll notice a brand new application. At its WWDC keynote earlier this morning, Apple has announced News. Similar to Flipboard, News is designed to bring the news stories that are personalised to you in one spot.
Apple’s biggest selling point on News is aesthetics and publisher support. Stories can be interactive, have varying layouts, photo galleries, animations, huge data visualizations, and video. Publishers who have signed up include The New York Times – who, despite having a paywall, agreed to publish 30 stories for free every day for the application – Conde Nast, ESPN, The Daily Mail, and BuzzFeed.
However, Apple did not get into specifics. They did not mention how publishers will make any money (if at all) from the new application, or how it plays well with publishers with paywalls on their content. They did say that blogs and smaller websites can add their content to the service, however.
The new application will be available in the US, UK and Australia.