The technology industry has well and truly infiltrated the publication world. Facebook launched Instant Articles, Google launched an open source platform for publishers with Twitter, and Apple has its own proprietary News app. At the same time, Flipboard, Yahoo, LinkedIn, and AOL have continued to update their respective news apps, showing there is a lot of interest in the world of news on mobile platforms. Flipboard’s overhaul of its app shows how these news apps can make it so much easier for you to keep up with the latest news. That said, below are our top picks for the best news apps, whether you’re a die-hard news junkie or merely a casual purveyor of world affairs.
BuzzFeed
BuzzFeed took the world by storm with its viral listicles and other fun content. The app consolidates everything in one place, while allowing to customize the types of articles you see to suit your tastes. You can also browse the menu to view quizzes, what’s trending, or news if you want to further hone your search. BuzzFeed also has a hard news app, which you can get here.
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iTunes Google Play
SmartNews
SmartNews brings you trending stories and categorizes them based on the subject. It’s clutter-free, easy to browse through, and good at digging up fresh content that you’ll actually want to read. Partners include NBC News, Medium, USA Today, TIME, Bleacher Report, Quartz, VICE, Reuters, AP, Perez Hilton, and more.
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iTunes Google Play
Google News & Weather
It isn’t Google Reader, but Google News & Weather offers a wide variation of news stories from multiple publishers. Alongside the headlines and local weather, users can browse “Suggested for you,” an area for news stories catered to your most recent searches. Users are also able to highlight an individual topic, such as technology, for all of the current news.
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iTunes Google Play
Feedly
The death of Google Reader was a tragedy for a lot of avid users, but for Feedly, it was a blessing. The news aggregator noticed a huge wave of new users within weeks, and has since improved its mobile service to make it easier to save, read, and bookmark articles. You can select multiple publications from Feedly’s search board, sort them into topics, and save articles for later viewing with bookmarks.
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iTunes Google Play
Flipboard created a new type of reading experience on mobile, one focused on engaging the reader with the most exciting stories of the day and a magazine-style aesthetic. Hundreds of publications are now available on the news reader, and Flipboard offers a generous amount of topics, whether you’re into technology as a whole or the Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
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iTunes Google Play
Yahoo News Digest
Yahoo’s $30 million acquisition of Summly was all about redesigning News Digest, and the finished product is a marvel. It offers 10 of the top stories in your region, capitalizing on Summly’s artificial intelligence technology as it does to present the information in a tidy package. The news changes every few hours, too, giving you important updates throughout the day.
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iTunes Google Play
Reddit finally launched an official Reddit app last year, and the app quickly became one of the best ways to experience Reddit on Android and iOS. Reddit is a great way to keep up with the latest news through the various subreddits — Android news would be submitted to /r/Android, for instance — and users upvote popular content and comment on it.
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iTunes Google Play
Apple News
Apple News comes pre-loaded on every iOS device, and sadly, like most of Apple’s apps, it remains unavailable on Android platforms. The News app places a big focus on images and quick loading videos, and publications such as The New York Times and National Geographic have partnered with the company to make their content readily available. Users are also able to follow trends or individual topics, ranging from vague areas like politics to niche topics such as HTML5.
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Apple
LinkedIn Pulse
LinkedIn Pulse received a much needed update a few months ago, but most of the functionality remains the same. Users are able to select articles from publishers or people, and use their LinkedIn account to sign in. Pulse also touts its own video player and staff, which allows the team to curate the most important stories in the business world.
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iTunes Google Play
AOL Mail, News & Video
AOL is still kicking, even if it is now a small segment in Verizon’s media empire. Thankfully, since the acquisition, there have been regular updates to its Mail, Weather, and News app. The app even offers a dedicated news feed lined with local weather, topical news, and video sections.
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iTunes Google Play
News Republic
News Republic offers a collection of articles based on trends and personal preferences, letting you see what everyone else is reading and what you’re interested in. For users with limited time, the service also offers a digest, so you can casually check the headlines without having to delve into the full article.
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iTunes Google Play
Ever read an interesting headline, but don’t have time to dive into the story? Pocket is the perfect app for you. The popular app lets you store news for later reading, and offers a simple user interface that lets find the articles you saved, bookmark them, and archive others you want to come back to. Pocket recently launched a Recommended feature, too, which lets you check what friends and other users have saved.
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iTunes Google Play
AP Mobile
Associated Press covers news from all around the world, with a huge team of dedicated reporters that focus on all manners of topics and trends. The service’s companion app comes free of the usual glitz and glam that other news services offer, but for people who enjoy getting the facts and little else, it’s a useful resource.
Download now from:
iTunes Google Play
BBC News
The BBC is another worldwide news organization dedicated to keeping you up to date on the latest topics and news stories. Unlike AP Mobile, however, the BBC News app offers a bit more fun with its articles, along with a live-streaming news channel that’s baked directly into its app.
Download now from:
iTunes Google Play
CNN App
CNN was the first 24-hour cable news channel, and its official app essentially functions as a condensed version of the site. It offers a wide variety of articles, primarily with a on U.S. audiences. Video also plays a larger part on CNN than it does on the BBC, so for fans of video news, this is the app for you.
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iTunes Google Play
Al Jazeera English
Al Jazeera was the first 24-hour news channel to cover the Middle East, and has become one of the most popular and established publications in the region. Thankfully, it also reports on news from around the globe, whether talking the effects of El Niño in California or the education rate of kids in rural Sudan.
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iTunes Google Play
Inoreader
This app is another news aggregator that brings all the news to you, instead of you having to check every news site individually. It allows you to save web pages for later viewing and search for content you’ve liked in the past. You can subscribe to news feeds covering technology, business, politics, and more. You can even subscribe to your favorite YouTube channels. It’s compatible with Android or iOS, and there’s a version designed especially for iPads.
Download now for:
Android iOS
theScore
If you’re into sports — whether it’s the NFL, NBA, NHL, Premier League Soccer, you name it — it’s in this app. It offers rich information, including detailed stats that you don’t get on many apps. If you want real time scores with an app that specializes in sports, then this app is a must. If you’re an iOS user, the best part is that there’s an Apple Watch app, too.
Download now for:
Android iOS
NPR News Radio
If you would rather listen to your news on the go, instead of reading, then the NPR News Radio app is a consistently good performer when it comes to user ratings. Follow, and listen, to local and national news on your smartphone. You can create a playlist of your favorites, or listen to public radio podcasts. The app also lets you find stations based on your current location using your smartphone’s GPS.
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Android iOS
News360
This app is one of the most well-known news aggregation apps for a reason. The app looks great, it’s very straightforward, and offers rich content. It’s similar to Flipboard, in that you search for your favorite topics, or specific news sites, and make a list. Not only does it offer an iMessage app, but also an Apple Watch app for iOS users. You can also connect the app to your Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus to share the news, and it supports Pocket, Instapaper, and Evernote integration. It also allows you to save stories, so you can read them later. This is definitely a must-have app when it comes to news.
Download now for:
Android iOS
If you have a very busy day and would rather save your news for later, check out our picks for best read-it-later apps.
Update: We’ve taken a second look at this list and condensed it to the best 20 mobile news apps.