In a world where a slow news day may seem like a quaint thing of the past, using an app to corral all your favorite subjects and news sites from around the web into one convenient place can offer a sense of organization. Many news apps use algorithms and artificial intelligence to serve up and summarize stories of interest, and you probably already have one on your phone or tablet, thanks to Google and Apple. If you haven’t customized your news feed, here’s a guide.
Using Google’s Tools
The all-purpose Google app (for Android and iOS) has long been able to serve up stories on topics you’ve searched for so they appear more often on the Google app’s main screen. The software algorithmically draws from a mix of sources, but the company recently added new ways to better customize your results. This month, Google rolled out an update that lets you select your preferred news sources.
To select sources, first enter a topic in the search box. When your results appear, tap the icon to the right of Top Stories. In the “Choose your preferred sources” window, use the search box to find and select specific news sites. You should then see those sources more frequently in your search results. (Google, like others, collects information about your requests for personalized search results. You can review your activity in your Google Account settings.)
If you prefer the separate Google News app (for Android and iOS) to wrangle articles from various outlets, you can also customize the news sources and story topics you see in your feed. Just open the app, select the Newsstand icon and tap the icons for your preferred sources on various subjects, like Sports or Business. (Note that while Google News is free, some sources require a subscription.)
You can follow specific topics or stories in the Google News app by searching for them and tapping the star icon in the search results to add the item to your news feed. To adjust your feed, tap the Following icon at the bottom of the screen to remove sources or see more stories from the site. By tapping the three-dot More menu under a story, you can get to the options for saving, sharing, hiding or seeing fewer articles about that topic.
Using Apple News
Apple’s aggregator app for its devices comes in two versions: the free Apple News, which supplies a limited pool of sources, and Apple News+, which costs about $13 a month and offers stories, puzzles, recipes and audio from about 400 publications — including content behind paywalls. (The New York Times is not among the publications.)
To set your preferences on an iPhone, tap the Following icon in the screen’s bottom-right corner to select topics and news sources — called “channels” — to add to your feed. Tap “Discover Channels” at the bottom of the list to get suggestions or use the search box to look for specific subjects and sources. Siri, Apple’s virtual assistant, offers suggestions based on your location and search activity.
You can adjust your Following list by tapping Edit in the screen’s upper-right corner. Here, you can tap to mark specific items as “favorites” to see more often or tap the Delete icon to stop following a topic or channel. (In the iPad version, use the sidebar list and the Edit button to customize your feed.)
To share and save stories, follow or block a channel, or otherwise manage your feed, press and hold a story preview onscreen to open a menu — or tap the three-dot icon in the preview’s bottom-right corner.
Athletics enthusiasts can search, select and follow favorite teams by tapping the Sports icon in Apple News.
Using Other Apps
If you want different features or news sources, visit your app store. News-aggregator apps vary in their design and content, but most work the same way: Create an account and start adding news sources and topics. Although most apps have free basic levels to get you started, a subscription is often required to use all the features, like gaining access to a wider range of publications (which may have their own paywalls).
Popular apps include the free Flipboard, Yahoo! News, SmartNews and its new spinoff software, NewsArc, which uses A.I. to focus your feed. Ground News (starting at $3 a month after a free trial period) claims 50,000 content sources and tries to offer a wider perspective by comparing how different news outlets cover the same story — which may help with the potential echo-chamber effect of personalized news feeds.
R.S.S. (Really Simple Syndication) is a technology that has been around for decades and automatically pulls in updates from your favorite sites, as well as content from social media feeds, blogs and podcasts. Feedly and Inoreader are among the R.S.S.-reader apps with free levels to get you started — and subscription plans for about $8 a month to let you really tweak your media dashboard.
J.D. Biersdorfer has been writing about consumer technology for The Times since 1998. She also creates the weekly interactive literary quiz for the Book Review and occasionally contributes reviews.
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