News app...daily go-to reader?..

[RWil85]

Just curious if there are other news/blog readers out there who use an aggregator such as Reeder, Newsify, or something of the like who have replaced their app with the News app?

I have settled on Newsify after trying basically everything else and like the tons of options (mark read as it scrolls, unread counts, amongst others) it has to offer and the traditional view that kind of looks like messages/mail. What I don't like is having to pay $2.99/month to get full-text articles.

Also, it would be nice to stay within the Apple-sphere and be able to use more Apple apps given some of the nice new ways they're tied into the OS. I really want to like News - however, I can't get over the fact that it feels crowded/toy-ish and is, seemingly, devoid of an options set for the user aside from selecting feeds/topics.

Anyone have something to recommend, etc? Let me know!

 

[toughnut]

Tried Feedly?

 

[Abazigal]

I will likely still stick with Reeder, not least because after reading the article, I can then go straight into the comments and post something. For me, comments are an integral part of the whole reading experience, and I don't like that Apple News apparently strips them out.

 

[Armen]

I absolutely dislike that the news app doesn't work like flipboard. I like flipping through articles not scrolling and being careful not to overshoot the page.

 

[RWil85]

Tried Feedly?

Yes. Always end up back with Newsify. Great app - was kind of hoping for more from News I guess. Wanted to like it. The simple fact alone that it doesn't filter out items you've read makes it a bit overwhelming for me.

Also - don't know if random oddity or not. Just for kicks - checked a few feeds in News, one being macrumors - and News didn't show an article in the feed that MR had posted 6 hours prior. Meh

I will likely still stick with Reeder, not least because after reading the article, I can then go straight into the comments and post something. For me, comments are an integral part of the whole reading experience, and I don't like that Apple News apparently strips them out.

Fair point. Hadn't even thought it out that far. Unless I'm missing something - there are literally zero controls on News? I know that's the Apple mindset at times (keep it simple stupid - so that it 'just works') - but, an app that came touted as a premier iOS 9 addition and ends up having no customization (aside from topic picks) seems blah and will offer little fight against strong third parties. For instance - I have no idea how often it refreshes lol.

I absolutely dislike that the news app doesn't work like flipboard. I like flipping through articles not scrolling and being careful not to overshoot the page.

Again - cannot believe so much could've gone into an app where Apple users cannot even have a 'view' choice. Weak. Again - to some, maybe less is more - and that's ok. It's probably that I've grown accustomed to little tweaks I've had elsewhere and don't want to give them up.

 

[Abazigal]

Fair point. Hadn't even thought it out that far. Unless I'm missing something - there are literally zero controls on News? I know that's the Apple mindset at times (keep it simple stupid - so that it 'just works') - but, an app that came touted as a premier iOS 9 addition and ends up having no customization (aside from topic picks) seems blah and will offer little fight against strong third parties. For instance - I have no idea how often it refreshes lol.

Not just that, but adding new web sites in News is quite slow for me. On my iPhone 5s, I can only preview 3 websites per row, and there is no way to search for those I want to add. They don't even seem to be organised alphabetically, so when I wanted to add daring fireball, it was way at the bottom, after a long period of alternating between scrolling downwards and waiting for new articles to load so I could scroll further.

There also seems to be no way of syncing my selections across my Apple devices, so I have to manage 2 separate reading accounts, and the locating of news websites isn't even consistent. So for instance, TheVerge is located in a different section on my iPhone than on my iPad. It really becomes hunt-and-peck.

For someone who has a very clear idea of what to subscribe to, it is infuriatingly cumbersome and frustrating to find them. Maybe Apple is gearing this towards "average consumers" who have no idea what they want to read and are happy letting the app decide for them? Not for me though.

WTF is Apple thinking??!

 

[Che Castro]

I still use pulse

but the apple news site is nicer looking

 

[Noble Actual]

Eh, I think I will.

Flipboard has better design but News is a lot more simpler and a lot better than standard news apps that you find on the App Store.

It would be cool if it gave like a morning and evening brief of the news using proactive siri or whatever. Right now I think they just throw in the top news. Yahoo News Digest does it pretty well.

 

[MrGuder]

The News App still will not play videos in landscape mode. I was a public beta tester and it didn't work then either so I provided feedback then. Now the final version appears and videos that are embedded in news articles still don't rotate to landscape, I guess they don't read their feedback.

 

[matrix07]

The News App still will not play videos in landscape mode. I was a public beta tester and it didn't work then either so I provided feedback then. Now the final version appears and videos that are embedded in news articles still don't rotate to landscape, I guess they don't read their feedback.

Just checked CNN and the video rotated for me.

 

[Creek0512]

Not just that, but adding new web sites in News is quite slow for me. On my iPhone 5s, I can only preview 3 websites per row, and there is no way to search for those I want to add. They don't even seem to be organised alphabetically, so when I wanted to add daring fireball, it was way at the bottom, after a long period of alternating between scrolling downwards and waiting for new articles to load so I could scroll further.

Open News, tap on Search, type "Dar", Daring Fireball is the Top Hit, tap the + symbol. How difficult is that?

There also seems to be no way of syncing my selections across my Apple devices, so I have to manage 2 separate reading accounts, and the locating of news websites isn't even consistent. So for instance, TheVerge is located in a different section on my iPhone than on my iPad. It really becomes hunt-and-peck.

Go to iCloud settings and make sure News syncing is enabled on both devices.

 

[Supermallet]

I'm testing it out right now, before my main reader was Unread. I definitely dislike that my favorites don't sync between devices, and even more I hate that I can't figure out how (if it's even possible) to stop certain outlets from appearing in my feed. I keep getting stories from People magazine. It's not one of my favorites, but I see no way to delete the stories or otherwise tell News that's an outlet I dislike.

 

[MrGuder]

Just checked CNN and the video rotated for me.

What phone do you have?

 

[matrix07]

What phone do you have?

iPad Air 2

 

[bwb]

I'm testing it out right now, before my main reader was Unread. I definitely dislike that my favorites don't sync between devices, and even more I hate that I can't figure out how (if it's even possible) to stop certain outlets from appearing in my feed. I keep getting stories from People magazine. It's not one of my favorites, but I see no way to delete the stories or otherwise tell News that's an outlet I dislike.

They have sync support under iCloud settings, for some reason it was off by default on my iPad but on by default on my iPhone.

 

[MrGuder]

iPad Air 2

It doesn't rotate on my iPhone 5 for the news app cnn or Fox News but if it's a YouTube video it will rotate but an embedded video only plays in portrait.

 

[RobinInOR]

It's easy to add to News. In Safari when you are on a site that you want in News! Use the share button and 'Add to News'

I've been using News360 on my phone, it's pretty similar. I go back and forth between them