In a follow-up to an interview Apple executive Eddy Cue had with CNN senior correspondent Brian Stelter a month ago, the senior vice president of Internet software and services discussed Apple’s thoughts on the News app, which launched alongside iOS 9 in September. When asked why Apple decided to turn it into a pre-installed app, Cue offered a look into how Apple determines what constitutes a pre-installed app.
“We’ve only created the apps that we think everyone uses every day… We really wanted to create a single app that all customers could go to, to read all their news — no matter what they are interested in, no matter what topics, no matter what publications they want to follow — and get that experience that they’re used to with our products, where it looks beautiful, it’s really easy to read and yet it provides all the content available around the world.”
Cue goes on to say that Apple believes the app is a “really, really important application for the world,” noting that good journalism is important to Apple. News organizations, Cue says, have to worry about creating their own apps, interfaces and user experiences. Apple believes something like the News app can streamline this and help news organizations focus on journalism. Apple believes that the app benefits local news outlets that can’t afford to create their own apps. Furthermore, Cue says Apple even thought about how small outfits like upstart news organizations and church newsletters could use News to distribute information.
Apple is also working on a version of the app for China, Cue tells CNNMoney. When asked whether the company is running into censorship problems in the country, Cue says that it’s not. Instead, Cue notes that Apple has a “great working relationship” in China and that Apple Music, its App Store and retail stores in the country show that they know how to work in China.
Finally, Cue says that Apple has no plans to hire journalists and create content of their own. Instead, Apple’s goal with News is to “empower those journalists to get their content to the right customer.”
In late October, Tim Cook said that Apple News had approximately 40 million users. However, Cook didn’t reveal whether that number was regular users or customers who had simply checked out the app, making it difficult to determine how many people truly use Apple News. Apple has partnered with dozens of publications for Apple News, including CNN, The New York Times, ESPN and more. To get the latest news and rumors from MacRumors, make sure to add MacRumors to Apple News by clicking this link.
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