Google has rolled out the latest version of its Google News app with AI support for Android and iOS users and is currently available in 127 countries. The new version of the news app with AI support was earlier teased at the recently concluded Google I/O 2018 event. The latest version replaces the older Newsstand app.
The basic idea of the redesign was to make it easier for finding and reading the latest news and also providing a customized user experience to each reader. The AI support implemented on the app will enable the users to get better and customized news by learning what the user typically likes to read. The redesigned app also comes with a cleaner look than before.
On opening the app, the users will find a “For You” section that has been designed to provide the top five news of the moment followed by a tailor-made section that will provide longer news articles.
The next section of the app is titled ‘Headlines’ that will provide the latest news in multiple categories like business, U.S, global, technology, entertainment, science, sports and health segments. Clicking on a particular story will pull up the complete details of the news that may include opinions, tweets, videos, articles, etc.
The next section is titled ‘Favorites’ that has been tailor-made to provide customized contents as per the users liking. Here, the user can mark out preferred topics, news or location-based information. It also comes with an option for saved searches that will enable the users to bookmark articles to be read later.
The final section is called Newsstand which is for aggregate media contents. Google announced last week that it has plans to offer more than 10,000 magazine titles that users can follow or subscribe to by tapping on the star icon. Currently, it does not have much content, but it can be expected to get full within the next few weeks.
In addition to the aforementioned features, a new feature called ‘Subscribe with Google’ is also likely to be rolled out soon. This feature will provide subscription-based contents from publishers. In order to subscribe to a particular content, the Google account associated with the user will be used along with the payment details available on Google’s database. Upon subscribing to paid contents, the contents will be available on multiple Google platforms like Google News and Google Search.