How to Make a News App?

How to make a news app? The question is really crucial, for people have been interested in what is happening around them since the depths of unrecorded time. And if earlier the news used to come with a great delay, today the situation has changed completely, especially in the 21st century. Yes, the development of computer technology has made information available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

Nowadays, to keep up-to-date, a person just needs a mobile device with an application, which is constantly broadcasting the latest news, and that's all. And this very person can become your potential user, therefore - a source of good income. We mean, it's time to create a news app and get a share of the earnings. We've collected and analyzed our own experience and some open data and would like to provide you with a few pieces of advice. We believe our tips would help you to implement the task.

Is there a demand?

We should start our discussion by analyzing demand and supply conditions. Thus, statistics show that the issue of how to build a news app is definitely worth considering.

As you see, the popularity of news applications has grown over the past year, and this is not the limit! So it’s necessary to embrace an opportunity and think of the news app development.

As the statistics show, about 45% of users are ready to install paid news applications - therefore, such a service can be an excellent source of your earnings (which is the whole point, right?). Free news apps can make you profit too, though.

But before proceeding to the next question, let's look at the types of news applications.

News app types

Okay, what's a news app? What do such programs look like and what can they offer?

In fact, all news applications can be conditionally divided into two main groups.

#1. News aggregator

An application of the 1st type collects various news about what is occurring in a certain city or country (or even across the globe). With a skillful approach and the right choice of monetization method, such a service can bring great financial benefits to its owner and help users follow events. After all, mobile devices got us hooked on different apps, and we became rather fond of them (as well as dependent on them). And it's high time to snatch this great opportunity and figure out how to make a news app for Android and iOS.

What content is relevant for a news app (iPhone, Android)?

• Events of the city and the region. Say, exhibitions of agricultural products, regional fairs, city children's holidays, and charitable events.

• General political events.

• Global events, which arouse the interest of a wide range of users.

• Announcements of future concerts, exhibitions, musical evenings, the repertoire of theaters, etc.

• Weather in the city, region, country, and world.

• Technology news (aka tech news apps).

#2. Applications of the news portal

Being the owner of a news informational source (say, a newspaper or a web resource, no matter) is a different story. In such a case, all the more you need to think about magazine app development, namely, about the web and mobile versions of your news platform. Because today these are the inalienable conditions of your prosperity.

Why should news media resources have their local news apps?

Understanding how to build a news app can help you (as the news source owner) to achieve such goals as:

• Increase user engagement. Your readers can check the news on the go, on the way to work, or anytime! 

• Efficiency. News arrives at readers' devices immediately after placement, so no one would miss important events.

• Interactivity. The user himself decides which categories he is interested in and which notifications he is willing to receive. And a variety of media content in video, text, audio, and photo formats is positively perceived by the audience.

• The growth of the audience. News app development leads to the possibility of reaching a wider audience of readers.

• Additional benefit. The ability to place targeted in-app ads contributes to the monetization of your service.

Factors to consider

If you want to know how to develop a news app of any type, you need to consider the following bullet points:

1. The format of real news applications. Such services broadcast not only local regional news. Applications transmitting the latest news from the world of fashion, sports and healthy lifestyle, family, and relationships, psychology, and hobbies are also very relevant and in-demand (the so-called world news apps).

2. The needs of the target audience of your mobile application. Your service should not just indifferently report news, its task is to answer people's questions and be interesting to users.

3. Constant news updates. You need to monitor both the relevance of published content and the trustworthiness of information sources. It’s really important if you’re planning a long-term project and want to create a truly popular news app.

4. Using your advantage. Remember: everyone who decided to create a news app faces a dangerous rival - social media resources (alas, modern people often use them to keep track of events). However, you have one important advantage, and we strongly advise using it in your favor. We mean special-purpose apps (which we are talking about) allow the user to control the process of reading news, and social networks are unable to guarantee the same. As you understand, news can easily be lost in an abundance of information inherent in social media. Therefore, you have every chance to attract the reader - if you find the right approach to the news app development process. And don't worry, all the details on the best way to achieve the desired goal are discussed in our article (just keep reading).

5. Web platform. It's also a good idea to supplement the mobile application with its web analog. By creating such a news web app you're getting a chance to attract an additional audience.

Top news apps

So, what is the best news app - at least, for now? In the end, you should know your rivals, which leads to the need to explore the market and identify its leaders.

#1. Feedly

Feedly is a nice application that is easily customized to suit the user's individual preferences. The person just needs to find his favorite resources using the search bar and add them to the list.

Pros:

• Feedly uses an extensive media base, which can be supplemented with any of the user’s favorite sites.

• Any article from Feedly can be saved to Pocket for deferred reading.

Cons:

• Google account is obligatory, this is the only way to access the service. Of course, such a mandatory condition displeases some of the users, and displeased users are not your purpose, right? So don’t make the same mistake if you want to create a news app, and a successful one.

• To read the entire article, you must visit the site itself.

#2.  The New York Times

Answering the question "What's the best news app? Name a few striking examples!", don’t forget about the app belonging to The New York Times. In fact, it is a great instance of an application of the second type.

The New York Times is a nationwide news encyclopedia, which has its own language style and addresses not only the "high society", but also ordinary people. The USA press is almost unthinkable without The New York Times. So it is little wonder that such a famous media giant has developed its own mobile application.

The application sends out notifications about the latest news, offers daily tip sheets (made up by Times journalists), allows you to enjoy The Daily 360 (360 videos from Times reporters anywhere in the world), and gives you the possibility to manage the reading process (by saving articles and so on), and offers a lot of other useful features. Agree, there is much to learn!

We guess, there is no point in discussing the cons of the application. Each owner of such an information source should be wondering how to build a news app.

#3. News360

News360 gives you only the news that you really like. However, the app has one big disadvantage: the process of adding your news sources is implemented in an extremely uncomfortable way.

Pros:

• The article can be saved (and you’ll be able to read it offline).

• By using the Local News button and the enabled geolocation feature, you’ll find out what's going on in your neighborhood.

Cons:

• Similar sources cannot be grouped together.

• News cannot be ranked by novelty.

#4. NowThis News

The resourceful editors of the application transform world news into short videos. Moreover, the news is presented in a playful form, it’s a kind of fun viral movies. 

Well, the service managed to have combined information and entertainment sources, so it should be treated with respect. Undoubtedly, the app is a perfect example of successful news app development.

Pros:

• Any video can be added to the saved videos section.

• All news is divided into several groups, and the most important ones fall into the Top Stories or in a separate section like Oscar Awards.

• All the videos are in non-stop mode, so you’ll have a chance to enjoy the latest news deep into the night.

Cons:

• Don’t expect to use the application as a source of serious news. It's more about fun… 

#5. Newsy

Having been engaged in analyzing world news for six years, Newsy creates on their basis short and intelligible reports aimed at those people who hate reading long boring texts. By installing this application, a user can enjoy captivating video news, which cute speakers are reading. Naturally, Newsy knows how to develop a news app able to interest a wide range of users! 

Pros:

• Excellent video quality.

• Viewing each news block takes no more than a couple of minutes.

• All the news is conveniently illustrated by videos, graphics, and clippings from newspapers.

• Among the sources are The New York Times, The Guardian, Fox News Channel, and other major media.

Cons:

• News cannot be ranked.

• To watch the news, you need an Internet connection (there is no feature allowing you to save the article to read it later).

#6. Trends

This is the service of statistics of popular Google search queries, based on Google Trends and showing the most popular topics of the current period. The app is focused on those who don’t want to waste their time reading the news but want to be aware of the main news trends. Well, it's not such a bad idea to provide busy but still curious people with a live news app!

Pros:

• Minimalist design and nice animation.

• The ability to follow search queries in several countries.

• By clicking on the word, you would go to the results of your query in Google.

Cons:

• The application doesn’t display the number of requests and other statistics.

• The number of countries in the application is much smaller than in the browser analog.

#7. NewsMap

NewsMap is the best solution for those who suffer from a lack of news and want to capture as much fresh information from all countries as possible. In this app, the world news is located on the map itself. To find out what is happening, let’s say, in China right now, it's enough to click on the news icon located on its territory. Easy, convenient, and user-friendly! Agree, NewsMap owners have found the right approach to the news app development.

Pros:

• Visualizing information on a map helps to create associations between news and source countries. It allows us to build a more understandable picture of the world.

• On the map, you’re allowed to display news from the last 24 hours to 30 days.

Cons:

• A small coverage area: the map is full of countries about which you won’t find any news.

Let’s learn from mistakes!

If you want to clearly understand how to make a news app, you need to take into account the negative experience of competitors (so that you won’t follow the wrong lead). Namely:

1. Provide different ways to register;

2. Think of a positive user experience. It means:

   1. remember the rule of three taps: the fewer actions a user makes to get the desired result, the better;

   2. create a laconic interface and clear navigation system;

   3. offer many useful features (we’ll describe them below).

3. Take advantage of machine learning technology which would help you explore the user's preferences. It means you’ll be able to predict your reader’s expectations and offer them the most interesting topics.

News Application Features

And now let's take up one of the most breach issues concerning news app development. In other words, we’ll thrash out a subject of the possible features of your information service.

1. Check-in. Without such a feature, almost any application is unimaginable, and the news one is no exception. We advise you to think over several registration options in order to take into account all possible user preferences. Namely, provide the opportunity to register using… 

   1. phone number;

   2. social networks;

   3. Google account;

   4. Email.

2. Personal profiles. Registration logically leads to the formation of a personal page, which includes all the information on the user. If a person signs in by using social networks or a Google account, this information is taken from his profile. Otherwise, he’ll have to fill in the fields of the questionnaire on his own. You may take advantage of the data of personal pages in order to understand your consumer and offer him the content he really needs.

3. Smart filtering. If you want to make the best mobile news app, remember: each successful application has filtering of articles by rubrics. They can be sports, political, economic, etc. Also, the news is sorted according to the geolocation of the user (cities, regions, etc.). In addition, it is desirable to divide the news on such criteria as "Live news", "Breaking news", and "Most popular".

4. Media sections. If you want to create a news app with a high rating, provide the possibility of online broadcasting of TV and Radio channels.

5. Push notification. The average user has many different applications installed. If you don't want your news app to be lost among them, take care of implementing a system of push notifications aimed to remind the user about your service from time to time.

6. Social networks. Of course, your users will greatly appreciate the chance to share with friends some news and favorite articles on Facebook and other social media.

7. Adding articles (news). The feature should be available only for the editor who has to monitor the update of the news content of the application.

8. Saving articles. The feature which allows saving favorite news articles, too, would come in very handy. Users would really like this possibility you’re providing them with.

9. Search feature. If you want to know how to build a news app, which users approve, supplement its functionality with a search feature. Let them find on their own what they’re interested in.

10. Offline option. We also advise you to provide users with access to the app content, even if there is no Internet connection. Offline mode helps to attract those users who may not always be online. The feature implementation isn’t complicated: just make sure each news item is being stored in the app cache when the Internet connection is available. Such a simple step would ensure offline access to the app content at any time.

11. Customizing program settings. It's time to take care of the user experience. One of the ways to make the interaction between the reader and your application as positive as possible is to allow the user to customize the app settings (by changing the size and color of the font or the like).

12. Content feature. Quality content is a prerequisite to ensuring the success of any local or world news app. It means that your information should be updated, exciting, and not boring. So we recommend diversifying your app content by feeding information in different formats (in addition to articles). Among others, try using… 

    1. Infographics, which is a popular and convenient way to transmit information. News can also be visualized, thus you’ll facilitate their perception by the reader.

    2. Video news. Recently, the video has been gaining incredible popularity. So, everyone who is looking for an answer to the question of how to develop a news app with content of excellent quality should take advantage of a video resource. You may either convert regular news into short videos or find ready-made taped news items: political debates, fragments of programs, etc.

    3. Audio format. People don’t always have the opportunity to read articles or watch videos - say, if they are driving a car. In these cases, drivers usually listen to radio or music... Therefore, news transformed into audio format and synchronized for offline playback can also be in high demand among users. Why not compete with music and radio services?

    4. VR. Of course, the VR feature is among the expensive ones. Alas, if you plan to start news app development by the creation of an MVP model, it’ll go beyond your budget. In that case, think of VR implementation in the future. Why? Because users would be delighted to get the opportunity not only to read about an important event (or watch a video) but to literally be present at the scene of the accident (hurricanes, protests, etc.) without risk to their own well-being. This will really improve the user experience.

How to develop a news app?

Everyone knows how to use the news app, but how to create it? Let's look at the news app development process in stages.

#1. The idea and Requirements

In fact, it's quite simple: if you’re the owner of the news resource, you should think about magazine app development. Otherwise, your option is a news aggregator.

So, if you’re the owner of a news resource, consider the following issues:

1. Adaptation of your content to the application format. Not everything that is read well on the site pages or in the magazine would be perceived on the screen of smartphones in the same way.

2. Increasing Engagement Factor. People like having fun, and they’re using applications mostly to entertain themselves. Alas, the owners of news apps often provide too boring, dull content. Of course, news cannot (and should not) entertain users as online games do, but it doesn’t mean you may forget about the engagement factor. Above, we've described the ideal content feature - use our advice to create diverse and exciting app content.

And now let's go into the question of how to build a news aggregator app. Answer the following questions:

1. What news will you post: city, regional, worldwide?

2. Which thematic groups are you going to split the articles into? Your possible options include business, economic, political, and cultural news. 

3. Which platforms will your service support? To succeed, you should make your service available for different platforms (iOS, Android, Windows). After all, you have no idea which devices your users prefer.

4. Find your source of news and make sure it is reliable and trustworthy. Take a pattern by Newsy application which has media sources such as The New York Times, The Guardian, Fox News Channel, and others of the sort.

Having formulated the main idea and the task of your service, you can make a more detailed list of requirements (your app features). Without these requirements, tech news app development, of course, isn’t possible. But don’t worry! The experienced developers are able to help you in this matter, so don't be afraid to overlook something important.

#2. Monetization of real news apps

Nobody starts to ponder over the question of how to make a news app without the hope of high earnings. Therefore, you need to think over an effective monetization strategy. We suggest taking a look at such options as:

• Advertising

If you’re the owner of a newspaper or magazine, you’re facing advertising all the time. However, in-app ads are not the same as advertising on a website or, especially, in a paper edition. The in-app ad has its special format, namely:

1. splash advertising when the application is launched;

2. an unobtrusive ad unit constantly remaining on the screen;

By the way, advertising is a good option for free news apps.

• Paid Subscriptions

It’s a very popular way to monetize world news applications. Of course, it's unreasonable to make the application completely paid (so you deprive yourself of a large number of users), and just offer a paid service in addition to the free version. And a paid app should be ads-free and has expanded functionality.

• Events

This way of monetization would come in handy when your service has gained enough popularity among users. In such a case, companies organizing full-dress social occasions would be happy to advertise their events with your help. 

But this is more related to local news apps (and local events).

#3. Hiring the developer company

The answer to the question "How to build a news app?" is well known to developers. So you should think of hiring the best of them first.

What experts do you need?

1. Mobile developers (iOS and Android experts);

2. Backend Developers (needed to organize the interaction with the server);

3. UI/UX designers;

4. QA experts.

What should you focus on when choosing specialists?

• Experience. How long have they been working in the application market?

• Portfolio. Study examples of the company's work to make sure its specialists cope with the task.

• A number of specialists. It is desirable that all the experts you need work in the company.

#4. Stages of news app development

Of course, you won’t be involved in the news app development, but you should know which stages this process consists of.

1. Drawing up a requirement specification and signing a contract. In the 1st stage, you need to make up a clear list of requirements for your application. Be sure to document all your wishes, including an indication of each deadline.

2. Prototyping. The stage includes the creation of wireframes for each app screen. Also, the user flow is being discussed in great detail.

3. Creating news app design. The qualitative design of the application implies:

   1. conformity with trends

   2. a simple and clear navigation system

   3. user-friendly interface

4. Development. This is the very stage when mobile and backend developers start working. Their task is to write a clear and understandable code, which ensures the error-free operation of the service.

5. Testing. Now the QA experts tackle the job: they check whether the application meets all the client's expectations.

6. Release and support. At the last stage of news app development, the application is published in Google Play and App Store. 

Hopefully, we’ve answered the question of how to develop a news app. And now it’s time to help you find really skilled experts to bring your application idea to life.

Expert news app development services

If you want to create a news app able to be a reliable source of stable income, you should choose the right contractor in the first place. We're happy to offer our services!

We might safely say that mobile development is one of our priority activities. We have vast experience and guarantee the most effective app solutions. Our portfolio serves as proof of the professional skills and expertise of Agilie experts. Our clients get high-level mobile products and open up new business horizons.