For those of you who don’t rely on Twitter or other social media platforms for news sources, chances are you’re using a news aggregator app on your iPhone. With a news aggregator app, you can easily get updated on what’s happening globally or locally on your iPhone, no matter where you are and whatever time it is. Although major news outlets have their own iPhone apps, it would be too tedious if you were to check them one by one to get your daily dose of news. That’s where news aggregator apps come in handy. Here’s a round-up of the top news aggregator apps for iPhone that are available either free or paid from the App Store.
Flipboard: The Social Magazine
I still remember the first time I used Flipboard when it was still starting a few of years ago. Since then, it has evolved to become one of the most, if not the most, beautifully designed news aggregator app that ever graced the iPhone.
Flipboard’s magazine-style format for curating and presenting content from news sources and social media has done wonders for the app. Most of the content on Flipboard is free, but some require a subscription to access some news articles. Flipboard indicate this via a paywall icon on the articles.
Availability: Free.
Pros
- Beautifully designed interface.
- Personalization feaure.
- Multi-platform support
Cons
- Since it’s free, there’s no way that you can remove ads.
- Trending topics tend to be repetitively covered.
Apple News
Apple’s own news aggregator app comes preloaded with every Apple device. Like most, if not all, of Cupertino’s apps, Apple News sports a very good interface and design. When it comes to content, Apple News aggregates stories from major outlets and delivers them to you based on your reading habits and preferences.
So, the more you use the app to read news and various information, the more it gets better in curating them based on your preferences. Thanks to its specialist editors, Apple News efficiently curates well-sourced, fact-based news from various well-established publishers.
Availability: Free, Offers In-App Purchases.
Pros
- Features audio stories.
- Supports CarPlay.
- Offline saving of articles.
- The subscription plan covers a wide range of news and media platforms.
Cons
- The search function needs improvement.
- Being part of a closed Apple ecosystem could be a con for some.
Google News
Google News is as equally good as Apple News when it comes to design as well as comprehensive coverage of global news and information. This feature-rich app delivers information on what’s happening around the world and provides you with various means of browsing through news information. Its “Your Briefing” category gives you the top five stories on local, national, and global coverages.
One notable feature of the Google News app for iPhone is theitswidget feature. It gives you news updates right on your iPhone’s Home Screen in real-time.
Availability: Free.
Pros
- Features a dark theme for nighttime reading.
- The news widget is a great feature.
Cons
- Sometimes, irrelevant news articles get through personalized feeds.
SmartNews
SmartNews is an award-winning news aggregator app for iPhone. That’s because it gives you well-analyzed news articles from a wide selection of informative and entertaining sources daily. It covers various media platforms including NBC News, USA Today, The Verge, AP, Reuters, and many others.
SmartNews automatically loads the latest news for as long as your iPhone is connected to the Internet. Moreover, it allows you to read news articles even when your iPhone is offline. SmartNews also offers customization features by letting you add channels that cater to your interest.
Availability: Free
Pros
- The layout and interface are very good.
- The customization feature is good.
- Offline reading feature.
Cons
- Since it’s free, ads can get annoying sometimes.
AP News
When it comes to established news media platforms, AP is among the major ones. We’re talking here about quality journalism and not just your run-of-the-mill news aggregation. AP News aggregator app for iPhone exemplifies this by providing you with global, local, and national headlines.
The app also lets you customize which news stories get into your feed based on your subject of interest. AP News aggregator app also has a special video section in addition to news articles and photo sections.
Availability: Free.
Pros
- Provides a good balance of local and global stories.
- The dedicated video section is good.
- Delivers quality news articles.
Cons
- The design and interface need improvement.
PressReader
Aside from Flipboard, PressReader is another news reader that I’ve seen rising from the first time it was launched several years ago. Now, PressReader offers more than 7,000 publications that provide you with valuable news and information. Although it was first developed specifically for the iPad, you can still enjoy reading news articles on your iPhone.
PressReader lets you download complete issues of newspapers and magazines which you can read later on in your leisure time. One notable feature of PressReader is the ability to switch between a mobile-optimized text view to the actual print view of the news article from where it came from. PressReader also supports various languages.
Availability: Free, Offers In-App Purchases.
Pros
- A comprehensive catalog of newspaper and magazine sources.
- Well-designed interface.
- Multi-language support.
Cons
- Takes the design of the sources of news articles.
- The overall interface needs improvement.
Feedly: Smart News Reader
Feedly, which originated as an RSS reader, has evolved to become a pretty good news aggregator app for iPhone. It provides you with an organized collection of news sources, publications, blogs, Twitter feeds, research, journals, and even YouTube channels. Feedly collates this information and presents it into one cohesive content stream.
One notable feature of Feedly is its AI assistant, called Leo. Leo collates news sources and feeds based on subjects or topics that are relevant to you. Feedly also integrates well with various social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Evernote, and more.
Availability: Free, Offers In-App Purchases.
Pros
- Massive collection of news sources.
- The AI assistant is a plus.
- Features night mode reading.
Cons
- The interface needs improvement.
- Lack of social sharing features.
Inoreader: News and RSS Reader
If you read news articles in several different languages, Inoreader is probably the best news aggregator app for you. Inoreader’s translation feature works great if you read international news written in local languages.
The app’s free plan lets you subscribe to unlimited news feeds and folders, while the premium subscription will give you push notifications, offline reading mode, article translation, and more.
Inoreader has an active community of content curators, so you’re sure to get quality news articles curated by fellow news enthusiasts. Other features of Inoreader include Discovery Mode and user-generated subscription bundles.
Availability: Free. Offers In-App Purchases.
Pros
- Lets you save articles to Dropbox or Evernote
- The translation feature is a plus.
Cons
- Since there is a premium version, the paywall on news articles may get pretty annoying.
- Unread items folder only last for a month.
GroundNews
Finally, we have something different from mainstream news aggregator apps, called GroundNews. What sets GroundNews apart from the other apps on this list is the fact that it gives you news from different sources and lets you filter them based on political bias, location, and interest.
All of the stories that GroundNews features are tagged based on political bias. By doing so, GroundNews is trying to eliminate sensationalism and hype over news and information.
Availability: Free trial available for a week, Offers In-App Purchases.
Pros
- Promotes reader awareness of unbiased news.
- Allows you to compare news from different sources.
- Doesn’t promote sensationalist headlines for click bait purposes.
Cons
- The design and interface are a bit cluttered and can still be improved.