In order to stay up-to-date in today’s fast-paced world, everyone wants to have the latest news delivered to them. And, with everything going digital, we really want news to be delivered right on our smartphones. Well, Apple has responded well to this increasing demand of the iOS users with its News app. In fact, it has left behind other news apps around. Apple’s News app comes built into the iOS and is accessible to everyone using the iOS on their iPhone/iPad in the UK, USA and Australia.
So, let’s get into the details of this app and how you can use it for various purposes.
Jump To Section:
- Getting Started With Apple’s News App For iPhone/iPad
- Enabling Notifications In News App For iOS 10
- Reading Articles In News App
- Adding New Channels In Favorites
- Filtering Favorite Channels On iOS 10
- Removing Channels/Genres From The Favorites
- Muting Channels In News App On iPhone/iPad
- Viewing Items In The Reading History Of News App
- Clearing Individual Articles Present In The Reading History Of News App
- Clearing Reading History From News App On iPhone/iPad
- Opening An Article From News App In Safari
- Reporting Your Concerns To News Staff At Apple
- Disabling Notifications For News App On iPhone/iPad
- Disabling Background App Refresh Feature For News App
- Disabling Cellular Data For Apple’s News App On Your iPhone/iPad
- Disabling Story Previews For News App On iPhone/iPad
- Adjusting Settings For News App
Getting Started With Apple’s News App For iPhone/iPad
When you launch the app for the first time, you have to set your preferences and tell your news companion what you’d like to have on your screen. This is done basically by selecting your category and channel favorites. Here are the steps you need to follow for that.
- Launch News application from Home Screen of your iPhone/iPad
- Tap Next
- Now tap all the channels that you want in your Favorites
- Tap on Continue after selecting enough channels for the Favorites. More can be added later as well.
- Tap on Configure Notifications. If you don’t want to do it now then you can tap on ‘Not Now’
- Finally, tap on ‘Sign Me Up’if you want the app to send you emails related to different news. If you don’t want that either, you can tap on ‘Not Now’ here as well.
Once done, the News app will take you to ‘For You’ section and will give you access to recent articles from the categories that you had selected.
If you’re using several iOS devices, make sure that you go to iCloud in Settings app and turn on News option to sync articles across all your devices.
Enabling Notifications In News App For iOS 10
After upgrading to the iOS 10, the setup will invite you to turn Notifications on for News app as soon as you launch the app for the first time. It will also ask you to choose the channels that you want to get notifications from. It is also possible to add/remove notifications some time later in Favorites section of the app. Let’s find out how notifications can be enabled in News app.
- On your iPhone Home Screen tap on News app icon to launch it
- Tap on Favorites button towards bottom of the iPhone screen
- Tap on Notifications towards upper left side of screen. The Notification icon appears similar to a bell
- Tap the switch to turn On notifications from channels you like. It is also possible to turn the notifications on for Top Stories and Editor’s Picks.
- Finally, Tap Done to complete
From now onwards, you will get notifications daily from your chosen channels and you can have access to all these notifications in the Notification Center from Lock screen.
Reading Articles In News App
It is quite simple to read the articles that arouse your interest. You have a couple of options that you can try basically. Either you can read some of the articles selected for you through Spotlight screen or you can go to News app to pick and choose what you’d like to read.
Check this post:
How You Can Read News Articles Through Spotlight On iPhone/iPad?
Here are the steps to follow for reading articles in the Spotlight.
- When on the Home Screen of your iPhone/iPad swipe right for opening Spotlight
- Now scroll down by swiping up
- Tap on any news item that you would like to take a look at
It will open the item in News app and you can enjoy reading it.
How You Can Read News Articles In News App On iPhone/iPad?
If you want to read desired news articles in News App on your iPhone/iPad, follow the steps given below.
- Open News application from the Home Screen of your device
- You will see five different options at bottom of the screen, tap any of them as you like. Here are these options that you’ll see.
- For You: Here you will find articles that belong to your chosen channels and genres
- Favorites: It combines all the genres and channels that you have added
- Explore: Here you will find suggestions on different other topics and channels that you might be interested in
- Search: Here you can search for new articles, genres and channels
- Saved: Here all your reading history is kept and all your saved articles that you might want to read later appear in this section
- Tap on your desired news item or channel. If you first tap on a channel, you will then have to tap a specific news item in order to begin reading it.
If you are using iPhone 6s/iPhone 6s Plus, you will be able to access quite a few 3D Touch features. You can firmly press on News icon present on Home Screen for peeking and directly going to ‘For You’ section of the app or to any of the 3 most-visited channels. And, when you are viewing those articles, you can do the same to have 3D Touch peek for the contents. Pressing even harder will make you pop directly into the corresponding full article.
When it comes to iOS 10, the articles on ‘For You’ page appear in sections defined by publications or topics. In each section there are,at least,six articles. Tapping on a publication or a topic will allow you to view more content.
Adding New Channels In Favorites
In fact, there are a couple of ways you can try for adding articles to your Favorites collection in News app. Let’s take a look at both these options.
How You Can Add Channels To Favorites Through Explore Option In News App
Here are the steps to follow for adding news articles to favorites through Explore option.
- Open News app on your device
- Tap Explore button that you can find towards the bottom
- Swipe left/right on suggestions that you see on top of the screen. Or you can also tap a particular category towards bottom of the screen for checking channels related to those topics.
- Now, tap on Add (+) for adding the desired item to Favorites list
How You Can Add Channels To Favorites Through Search Option In News App
Here are the steps to follow for adding news articles to favorites through Search option.
- Open News app on your device
- Tap Search Button that you can find towards the bottom
- Now tap Search Bar on top of the screen
- Enter the search query
- When the results show up, tap Add (+) button present right next to each channel or topic that you want on your Favorites List.
- Tap Done to finish
You will now be able to see the chosen channel in the Favorites tab of your News app and all news items relevant to that topic will also be visible.
You can also add the partner sites from outside News app. For instance, you can use Share button in Safari browser and if the site supports News then you will see “Add to News” option in share sheet.
Filtering Favorite Channels On iOS 10
iOS 10 latest update allows you to view the favorite channels sorted by Recent, Most Visited or Name. Here is how you can filter your Favorite Channels to quickly access ones that you’re looking for.
- Open News app on your device
- Tap on Favorites tab at bottom of your iPhone/iPad screen
- Now tap on Favorites option towards top-center of your screen
- Now tap on Sort by Most Recent, Most Visited or Name
Removing Channels/Genres From The Favorites
If you don’t want some genres or channels on your Favorites list, you can simply remove them whenever you like. Here is how.
- Open News app on your device
- Tap on Favorites towards bottom of the screen
- Tap Edit in top right side of the screen
- Now tap X button right next to topics/channels that have to be removed
If you are using iPhone 6s/iPhone 6s Plus then you can make use of 3D Touch for streamlining the entire process.
- Open News app on your device
- Tap on Favorites towards bottom of the screen
- Press your Favorite firmly for peeking at it
- Now swipe up so that you can view options
- In the options that show up, tap on Remove from Favorites to remove the item from the list
Muting Channels In News App On iPhone/iPad
In case if you do not want the News app to show stories from any specific publication, it is possible to mute that channel. You can do that from within that article. Here is how:
- Open News app on your device
- Tap one of the articles to read
- Now tap Share button (The box having upwards arrow that you can see towards bottom left side of the screen)
- Tap on Mute Channel
- In pop-up that appears, tap Mute again
Note: If you are using iOS 10 then Share button is accessible from all the pages in the app. There is no need to open the articles for opening them.
Here it is important to mention that muting channels will not remove any stories which are already there in the News feed. However, it will make sure that you do not see any new stories from a muted publication anymore.
Channels can also be muted with the help of 3D touch. Here is how to do that on your iPhone/iPad.
- Launch News app on your device
- Firmly press the article present in the feed for peeking at it
- Now swipe up for revealing all the options
- Tap on Mute Channel
- Now tap on Mute again in the popup that appears on your screen
Viewing Items In The Reading History Of News App
With history feature of the News app from Apple, it is possible to return to almost any story that you might have opened ever on your device. History contains all the articles that you have read with your News app. Here is how to view the history items:
- Open News app on your device
- Tap on Saved tab that you can see towards bottom of the screen
- Now tap History button that is present on top of your iPhone/iPad screen
- Finally, tap the article that you want to read and it will open right there
Clearing Individual Articles Present In The Reading History Of News App
Here is how you can clear individual articles present in your News app’s reading history.
- Open News app on your device
- Tap on Saved tab that you can see towards bottom of the screen
- Tap on History button on top of your iPhone screen
- Swipe to the left on a particular article
- Tap on Delete
Clearing Reading History From News App On iPhone/iPad
If you want, you can also clear the reading history from the news app. Here is how you can do that.
- Open News app on your iPhone/iPad
- Tap on Saved tab towards the bottom
- Tap on History button towardsthe top
- Now tap Clear
- Finally, tap Clear All, Clear Recommendations or Clear History
The app will take an appropriate action according to the choice that you make.
Opening An Article From News App In Safari
If you are not able to read an article properly in the News app and some content – like an infographic or a video – is missing then you can open that same article in Safari browser as well. You’ll most likely be able to get rid of the issues there. Here is how you can refer your article requests to Safari.
- Open News app on your device
- Tap on the article that you want to be opened in Safari. You can also tap on “Share Sheet button” that is present towards bottom right side of the desired article and then skip directly to the step 4.
- Tap on Share button that you can find towards bottom left corner of the screen. It looks like a box having upward arrow.
- Tap Open in Safari to view the article in Safari browser
Reporting Your Concerns To News Staff At Apple
If you don’t like something in an article or if something isn’t just fine, your concerns can be reported to News department at Apple and they will take it from there on. Here is what you need to do for reporting your concerns.
- Open News App on your device
- Tap to open an article or tap on Share Sheet button that you can see towards the bottom right side of article preview to skip the next step
- Tap Share Sheet button towards bottom left side of the screen
- In the options row, swipe left
- Now tap on Report a Concern
- In the list of reasons, tap a particular reason for which you do not want that article
- Now tap on Tell us a little more to provide your explanation as to why you are reporting that article
- Tap on Send button in top right side of the screen
Disabling Notifications For News App On iPhone/iPad
The News app sends you push notifications every now and then. These notifications are related to the topics that you have listed in the Favorites or these may be about the new stories appearing in the feed. But if you get annoyed by these notifications then you can disable them any time. Here is how you can do that.
- Open Settings app on your iPhone/iPad
- Scroll down until you find News option, and then tap it
- Tap on Notifications
- Tap on the toggle button in front of Allow Notifications for disabling them
In case, if you want to receive notifications and just want to make sure that they appear in a particular manner, they can very much be customized to your liking. You can have them as lock screen alerts or banners, or app-icon notifications that appear in the form of small numbers on top of the app icon on Home Screen.
Disabling Background App Refresh Feature For News App
The News app on your iPhone/iPad continues to refresh content constantly in background. And, if you let it do that continuously then it can consume your cellular data as well as battery power. If all you want is to load stories in the News app when the app is launched then you can turn this feature off. Here is how you can do that.
- Launch Settings app on your iPhone/iPad
- Scroll down to News and tap it
- You will see a toggle in front of Background App Refresh, just tap it to disable
Disabling Cellular Data For Apple’s News App On Your iPhone/iPad
If the Apple’s News app that you have on your iPhone/iPad continues to refresh in background or you are using it when you don’t have access to any Wi-Fi connection, it is possible for it to consume the cellular data. Obviously, it can cost you a lot and you’d not like that for sure. If the monthly data limit is your concern, you should better disable cellular data for your News app. Here is how you can be able to do that:
- Launch Settings app on your iPhone/iPad
- Scroll down to News and tap it
- You will see a toggle button in front of Cellular Data, just tap it for disabling data for the Apple’s News app
Disabling Story Previews For News App On iPhone/iPad
It is possible to disable the story previews for news app if you don’t like them. Here is how you can do that.
- Launch Settings app on your iPhone/iPad
- Scroll down to News and tap it
- There is a toggle switch in front of Show Story Previews, tap it to disable
Adjusting Settings For News App
You can’t just customize what type of articles you’d like to read in News app but you can also make adjustments to other settings as per your requirements. Here are the options that you can play with and alter according to your own preferences.
Open Settings app and go to News section to make changes to any of these settings given below:
- Notifications: Select the way you want to view and receive notifications from the app.
- Background App Refresh: If you want the News app not to fetch any articles in background then you can switch this option off to save your battery, data and all other resources that may be involved.
- Cellular Data: Turn off Cellular data if you’d just like to use the app on Wi-Fi only. This will make sure that you never exceed your data limit even when the app is running in the background.
- Always Show “Next Up”: The option is available in the latest iOS 10.3 only and lets you to choose if you want that “Next Up” option for all stories or not. The default settings show the option towards the bottom right side of the screen and if you don’t like that then you can turn it off here.
- Show Story Previews: Story Previews are only applicable to channels that live on RSS feeds. When turned on, the users can be able to view basic rendition for the articles. It is pretty much similar to the Safari Reader view. However, when you have turned off this option, tapping the articles will load the entire Web page rather than showing you that initial preview. This option in Settings lets you to choose how you want your articles to open on first tap – either preview or a full article.
So, that’s all about the Apple’s News app and we have probably discussed everything you need to know about using the app. Everything is described in detail that how you can perform different tasks. If you still have any queries about using the Apple’s News App or performing a particular thing within the app, you can get in touch with us in comments section.