“It’s been hugely hyped and roundly criticized, but after more than a month’s intensive use, Apple News+ has proved to have very specific good and bad features,” William Gallagher writes for AppleInsider. “Before you sign up, or before you cancel, here’s a true Pro/Con list for Apple News+.”
“Any service’s quality and worth is always going to be subjective. Yet still there are definite pluses and minuses which can help you reach the only important issue that matters —whether Apple News+ is right for you,” Gallagher writes. “Being able to always get the latest issue is a big point in favor of Apple News+ because if you’re interested in even one title, you’re getting it faster than through the mail. If you’re regularly interested in more than one, the $9.99 US or $12.99 Canadian subscription cost is a bargain.”
“With such a mass of material and such a range, it’s extremely unlikely that there won’t be anything you want to read — but finding it is hard,” Gallagher writes. “It’s also buggy. At times, if you search for a magazine title, you may get just a topic page. That’s a collection of news articles and it’s typically what you’d see if a publisher doesn’t want to put the entire issue onto the service. And yet if you search again, you can end up with that topic page plus the issues at the top.”
“It feels oddly as if Apple News+ is in a nascent, still-forming stage,” Gallagher writes. “When we count the irritations, it doesn’t feel great at all —yet when we then remember the hours we’ve spent engrossed in it, it does.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple News+ is a work in progress for sure, but it’s a great value that’s easily worth the $9.99/month subscription fee!
SEE ALSO:
Over 200,000 users subscribed to Apple News+ in its first 48 hours – April 2, 2019
One week with Apple News+ – April 2, 2019
Texture to shut down May 28th; Android users to lose access (unless they upgrade to an Apple device) – March 29, 2019
Apple News+ hands-on: Is it worth it? – March 26, 2019
Apple launches Apple News+ – March 25, 2019
If I could get two local newspapers, I’d get Apple News.
The problem with Apple News is news has no “value” anymore.
For every article on it, there are 100,000 other sources to get the same thing ‘free’.
Beyond that, most people are just looking for bias confirmation to support their own perceptions, not real news.
News never had a high value in my regards for a few reasons; a background in scientific peer reviewed writing, reading reports about events that I attended, and my direct experiences with journalists have always left me luke warm.
That being said however, the one thing I do enjoy about the traditional paper news are the comics.
I do like direct quotes, and the weather.
Apple News would be of interest if it is from global writers and global sources. It’s amazing how diverse a similar event will be from certain groups of the media.
It was always a joy to get the days paper back in the day and read the days news. Delivered to your door.
Comics included.
Saturdays and Sundays enjoying that first cup of coffee with the sun streaming through the window and the kids watching cartoons.
I got rid of the Failing New York Times and added Apple News Plus. Saved $10 per month.
Can’t even lie effectively.
A New York Times digital subscription is $2 a week. $8 dollars a month.
Beyond that, you subscribe to a “failing” newspaper. And are somehow proud of wasting your money.
Sheesh. I have some ocean front property in Pahrump, Nevada for you.
I get the majority of my news from the web and social media but I still dive into the News app at least once a day.
It’s confusing, inconsistent, buggy and not very intuitive but I love its speed and how quick it is to browse and load up articles (I assume great caching and a good CDN?).
In addition when the articles are formatted for AppleNews it’s actually one of the best reading experiences I’ve found for news.
There’s no question that News+ is great value, even if some of the content providers are limiting the content they publish on the service. The maths is really simple, if you were to subscribe to the publications individually it would cost you more than to just pay for News+.
I can say however I won’t be subscribing simply because I don’t tend to read magazines or newspapers. I don’t think I’m the target audience for this service but I have no doubt that others will find this service extremely attractive.
I think to make this a killer app and service they need to do several things:
Make the UI more consistent, intuitive and less buggy.
Work with Adobe or create new tools to make it easier for publishers to publish great looking content in the AppleNews format.
Allow us to share articles using hard links that don’t require us to open them in the News app.
Get more local and national newspapers onboard.
Launch the News app in more countries.
If the rumours are true and you are taking a 50% cut, stop it. If that’s the case then you can’t really say you’re trying to help the industry, you’re just profiting off them.
No to the question. Apple News is not anything new, great or groundbreaking.
As to the remarks about the NYT, it is not failing. It is doing quite well.