Apple News+ launched recently and has already captured the attention of Apple fans, media, and tech enthusiasts everywhere.
Considered by some to be the Netflix of publications, this premium service allows unprecedented access to a variety of articles. It feels like it has the potential to change the way that such content is delivered in the future.
That’s the future, though. For now, here’s everything that you need to know about Apple News+.
Apple News+ What is It?
Apple News+ is Apple’s new subscription service that is shaking up the publication world.
This service grants you access to curated content from a variety of publications. Subscribers will be able to access this content instantly as part of what Apple calls “your own personal newsstand.”
Apple News+ is designed for people who want to enjoy a variety of publications but aren’t able to subscribe to all of them.
Apple News+ How Does it Work?
Ah, now here’s the more interesting question.
First off, this service only offers curated content from select publications. What curated content means is actually up for some debate. It’s not entirely clear at this time how the process works, but it seems that each publication chooses what they contribute to the service.
It’s important to know about this limitation. Unfortunately, publications aren’t being clear regarding what content you can expect to receive on a regular basis. That makes it kind of hard to tell you whether or not you should choose this over individual publications.
However, once you download the app, you really will get instant access to tons of magazines and other publications. Even better, some of these publications benefit from unique features like animated covers.
You’re able to read all of this content at-will and switch between them as you please. The app even breaks down the various publications based on which it feels you might be interested in. It also breaks them down into sections that allow you to easily sort through. Additional options make it possible to tell the app the kind of specific content that you’re looking for.
Best of all, you can even download each article as well as read them as you go. It’s a versatile service for the price.
Apple News+ Price
Speaking of the price…
Apple News+ costs $9.99 a month. That’s a recurring price as Apple does not currently offer a yearly or lifetime subscription plan.
This fee allows you to access the service across all compatible devices. You also gain access to a Family Sharing plan that allows multiple people to log-in to the same account.
It’s important to know that Family Sharing allows each user to access their own recommendations. Your history and recommendations won’t carry from user to user.
Apple News+ Trial
Apple News+ does offer a 30-day free trial. This trial does allow you to access the full content included in the app. However, once your 30 days are up, you will have to start paying the $9.99 subscription fee.
One important thing to consider is when to cancel your service. Users are reporting that cancelling your trial early will result in it ending right away. This is different from most other trials which let you use the service until the end of the 30 days. As such, it’s recommended that if you are going to cancel that you do so at the very end of the trial.
To cancel your Apple News+ Trial (or service), simply follow these steps.
- Tap on the “Following” tab in the app.
- Choose “Manage Subscriptions”
- Select “Cancel Free Trial”
Apple News+ Download
Unlike some of Apple’s other recently revealed services, Apple News+ is available to download right now.
Apple News+ works on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and other devices running iOS 12.2 or macOS 10.14.4. That should cover quite the wide range of current and recent Apple products.
You can download the app like any other from the Apple Store. From there, it’s a pretty simple process to start using it. Simply follow these steps.
- Open the Apple News App
- Tap on the News+ option that should be at the bottom of the screen
- Choose to “Get Started”
- Select “Try it for Free.” Even if you intend to keep subscribing, you will need to start with the free trial.
- Confirm your payment. You should be ready to go.
Apple News+ Publications
There are over 300 publications available as part of Apple News+, so listing them all in
- The Atlantic
- Entertainment Weekly
- Rolling Stone
- The New Yorker
- O, The Oprah Magazine
- Sports Illustrated
- Time
- WIRED
- Esquire
- Entertainment Weekly
- The Wall Street Journal
- Los Angeles Times
- Toronto Star
- Vulture
- People
- And Many More
Apple News+ Alternatives
While Apple News+ is a pretty thorough service, it’s not the only option out there. For getting news. While there aren’t many paid services that offer what it does, here are some alternative apps for getting daily news and content.
Google News
It’s the most obvious Apple News+ alternative, and one of the best. While Google News doesn’t offer the same subscription options, it does allow you to access a variety of stories incredibly easily.
Google News has long been heralded as one of the best news “aggregators” available, and that hasn’t changed. Again, it’s not in direct competition with +, but it’s a wonderful option for those who are not interested in premium content.
AP News
AP News is a fairly barebones service, but that’s kind of the point. At a time of sensationalism and gotcha reporting, AP News offers you just the facts (or close to it).
AP News is one of the most trusted sources in the world for breaking stories. This app covers a variety of global topics and effectively serves as the ultimate front page for everything that is happening.
BBC News
The BBC is one of the most respected news outlets in the world. They’re a global news organization that covers some of the most important topics in the world (and other things that are just fun).
While they don’t offer as much content as you’d get with Apple News+, BBC is a fantastic free option for anyone who just wants a little bit of everything.
SmartNews
The name leaves a little to be desired, but this app is a great option for many users. Essentially, SmartNews analyzes the news from various publications and curates it based on a variety of factors.
By breaking down news into regions, subject, and other fields, SmarNews makes it easy to find the stories that matter most to you. More importantly, it pulls these stories from many sources. That means that the app tends to avoid any publication biases that may exist.
News360
News360 is like many of the other apps we recommend. It aggregates the news from a variety of publications so that you can read it all easier. The key difference between News360 and everything else is how it looks.
Simply put, News360 is one of the best looking news apps out there. It’s not only incredibly easy to read on even the smallest screens, but it sports quite a few navigation and curation features. It’s honestly worth downloading even as a companion to Apple News.
Apple News+ Bugs and Crashing
Fortunately, Apple News+ seems to be mostly bug free at launch. However, there have been numerous reports of the app crashing during its initial hours of availability.
The crashing problems are not affecting everyone, which makes them somewhat hard to nail down. Some people are saying that these problems only pop up from time to time. Apple is looking into the issue, but it seems to mostly affect users on versions iOS 12.2 and macOS 10.14.4. That’s not to say that others won’t be affected, though.
Apple believes they can fix this problem remotely, but if you encounter it, try closing the app and restarting your device. If it continues to happen, you may be one of the unlucky users who are just caught in the crashing pattern. Hopefully, Apple will be able to release a fix before too long.
Apple News+ Tips
Read it on iPad
Apple News+ works fine on everything, but it really shines on iPad. The device is Apple’s closets to a magazine in terms of size and still feels like their most natural reader. On top of that, some of the publications that take advantage of the service’s enhanced features look especially good on iPad.
New Issues Will Be Released Under My Magazines
Your “My Magazines” section will be populated by the magazines you’ve read via the Apple News+ service. Along with being a handy way to read those magazines, this section also notify you when magazines you’ve read have been updated. As such, it’s a good idea to check out magazines you’re only even vaguely interested in so you can easily keep up with them.
You Can Download Issues With the Cloud Button
Next to nearly every magazine and publication available, you should see the familiar cloud button. Tapping on this button will allow you to download a copy of the publication for offline reading. Just know that this download will only contain the same content as the online version. That means that it might not feature everything in the publication itself.
Apple News’ Free Version is Still Available
Just as a quick note, the free version of Apple News is still available. Apple News+ is just a spinoff of that service. You can still download the base Apple News app for free and use it just as you always would have.
Apple News+ Review
If you’re wondering whether or not Apple News+ is a good service, the answer is mostly a resounding “yes.”
The fact that you can’t tell what content you are (and aren’t) getting from a publication is a little annoying. We hope that Apple will address that in the future. The crashes that people are currently experiencing are also an annoyance.
However, as a service, Apple News+ is pretty incredible. Many people have been waiting on a way to stream publication content like this, and Apple News+ (mostly) offers that for a very reasonable price. On top of that, Apple News+ features an intuitive layout doesn’t sacrifice usability for content.
It’s really hard to find many faults in Apple News+ in terms of what it does offer. Crashes aside, Apple was clearly right to launch this service right away. It’s a great addition to the Apple service library that will make you that much happier to be an Apple device owner.
However, there are some questions regarding the value of this service to the individual user. If you subscribe to (or considered subscribing to) even a few of these publications, then this service is worth it even if you don’t get the full issues. It’s really a no-brainer in that respect.
What if you aren’t necessarily interested in specific publications, though? Is this service still worth it? That’s going to depend on the individual user, but there are reasons to doubt it will be. With so much online content out there available for free, there’s no shortage of raw content covering a variety of topics available on your device.
True, many of these publications feature exclusive content, but you’ve really got to be a fan in order to pay anything for them in the first place. From a raw content perspective, Apple News+ might not be inherently appealing to everybody.
Ultimately, though, Apple News + is a fantastic idea. You should know whether or not you’re in the target demographic for the service after you’ve tried it for the first month.
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