For those of you who don’t rely on Twitter or other social media platforms for news sources, chances are you’re using a news aggregator app on your iPhone. With a news aggregator app, you can easily keep up to date with what’s happening globally or locally on your iPhone, no matter where you are or what time it is. Although major news outlets have their own iPhone apps, going through them one by one to get your daily dose of news would be too much of a hassle. This is where news aggregator apps come in handy. Here is a roundup of the best news aggregator apps for iPhone that are available either free or paid on the App Store.
Flipboard: The Social Magazine
I still remember the first time I used Flipboard when it started a few years ago. Since then, it has grown into one of the most beautifully, if not most beautifully designed, news aggregator apps ever on the iPhone.
Flipboard’s magazine-like format for curating and showcasing content from news sources and social media has worked wonders for the app. Most content on Flipboard is free, but some requires a subscription to access some news articles. Flipboard indicates this with a paywall icon on the articles.
Availability: Free.
Advantages
Beautifully designed user interface. Personalization function. Multiple platforms support
Disadvantages
Since it’s free, there’s no way to remove ads. Trend topics are usually dealt with again and again. Apple news
Apple’s own news aggregator app comes preinstalled on every Apple device. Like most if not all apps from Cupertino, Apple News has a very good user interface and design. When it comes to content, Apple News pulls together stories from major media outlets and delivers them to you based on your reading habits and preferences.
So, the more you use the app to read news and various information, the better it will be to curate it according to your preferences. Thanks to its specialist editors, Apple News efficiently curates in-depth, fact-based news from a variety of established publishers.
Availability: Free, offers in-app purchases.
Advantages
Contains audio stories. Supports CarPlay. Offline storage of articles. The subscription plan covers a wide range of news and media platforms.
Disadvantages
The search function needs improvement. Being part of a closed Apple ecosystem might be a disadvantage for some. Google news
Google News is every bit as good as Apple News when it comes to design and comprehensive coverage of global news and information. This feature-rich app provides information about what’s happening around the world and offers you various ways to browse news information. In the “Your Brief” category you will find the five best stories for local, national and global coverage.
One notable feature of the Google News app for iPhone is itswidget feature. Get real-time news updates right on your iPhone’s home screen.
Availability: Free.
Advantages
Provides a dark theme for evening reading. The message widget is a great feature.
Disadvantages
Sometimes irrelevant news articles arrive via personalized feeds. SmartNews
SmartNews is an award-winning news aggregator app for iPhone. Because it brings you daily well-analyzed news articles from a wide range of informative and entertaining sources. It covers various media platforms including NBC News, USA Today, The Verge, AP, Reuters and many others.
SmartNews automatically loads the latest news as long as your iPhone is connected to the internet. In addition, you can read news articles even when your iPhone is offline. SmartNews also offers customization features by allowing you to add channels based on your interests.
Availability: Free
Advantages
The layout and user interface are very good. The customization feature is good. Offline reading function.
Disadvantages
Since it’s free, ads can be annoying at times. AP News
When it comes to established news media platforms, AP is one of the big ones. We’re talking quality journalism here, not just an ordinary news roundup. The AP News Aggregator app for iPhone illustrates this by bringing you global, local and national headlines.
The app also allows you to customize which news items are included in your feed based on your topic of interest. The AP News Aggregator app has a dedicated video section in addition to news articles and photo sections.
Availability: Free.
Advantages
Offers a good balance between local and global stories. The dedicated video section is good. Delivers quality news articles.
Disadvantages
The design and user interface needs improvement. PressReader
Aside from Flipboard, PressReader is another newsreader that I’ve seen rise to fame since it first launched a few years ago. PressReader now offers more than 7,000 publications that provide you with valuable news and information. Although originally designed specifically for the iPad, you can also read news articles on your iPhone.
With PressReader you can download entire issues of newspapers and magazines to read later in your free time. A notable feature of PressReader is the ability to toggle between a mobile-friendly text view and the actual print view of the news article it originated from. PressReader also supports different languages.
Availability: Free, offers in-app purchases.
Advantages
A comprehensive catalog of newspaper and magazine sources. Well designed user interface. Multilingual support.
Disadvantages
Handles the design of news article sources. The whole user interface needs improvement. Feedly: Intelligent news reader
Feedly, originally an RSS reader, has grown into a pretty good news aggregator app for iPhone. It offers you an organized collection of news sources, publications, blogs, twitter feeds, research, magazines and even YouTube channels. Feedly collects this information and presents it in a cohesive stream of content.
A notable feature of Feedly is its AI assistant named Leo. Leo collects news sources and feeds based on topics or topics that are relevant to you. Feedly also integrates well with various social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Evernote, and more.
Availability: Free, offers in-app purchases.
Advantages
Huge collection of news sources. The AI assistant is a plus. Provides read function in night mode.
Disadvantages
The interface needs improvement. Lack of social sharing features. Inoreader: News and RSS reader
If you read news articles in multiple different languages, Inoreader is probably the best news aggregator app for you. Inoreader’s translation feature works great when reading international news written in local languages.
The app’s free plan lets you subscribe to unlimited news feeds and folders, while the premium subscription gives you push notifications, offline reading mode, article translation, and more.
Inoreader has an active community of content curators, so you can be assured of quality news articles curated by fellow news enthusiasts. Other Inoreader features include discovery mode and user-generated subscription packages.
Availability: Free. Offers in-app purchases.
Advantages
Allows articles to be saved to Dropbox or Evernote. The translation feature is a plus.
Disadvantages
Since there is a premium version, the paywall can get pretty annoying on news articles. The Unread Items folder is only valid for one month. Ground News
Finally, we have something different from the mainstream news aggregator apps: GroundNews. What sets GroundNews apart from the other apps on this list is that it brings you news from multiple sources, and you can filter them by political affiliation, location, and interest.
All stories presented by GroundNews are tagged for political bias. In this way, GroundNews seeks to eliminate sensationalism and hype around news and information.
Availability: Free trial available for one week, offers in-app purchases.
Advantages
Promotes reader awareness of unbiased news. Allows comparison of news from different sources. Don’t promote sensationalist headlines as click bait.
Disadvantages
The design and UI are a bit cluttered and can still be improved.
