Apple Launches Audio Stories in Apple News, Adds Local News in Five Regions

by

As part of the iOS 13.6 and macOS 10.15.6 updates, Apple is introducing new features for Apple News and its Apple News+ subscription service, including audio stories.

applenewsaudio
Audio stories include audio versions of the best stories from ‌Apple News‌, a daily audio news briefing created by ‌Apple News‌ editors, and curated local news collections launching in five cities and regions.

‌Apple News‌ editors plan to release about 20 audio stories per week across a wide range of interests, with the stories narrated by professional voice actors. Apple says we can expect pieces from Esquire, Essence, Fast Company, GQ, New York magazine, Sports Illustrated, TIME, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Wired, and newspapers that include The Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times.

‌Apple News‌ audio stories are a feature limited to ‌Apple News‌+ subscribers in the United States, but the daily audio news briefing, called ‌Apple News‌ Today, is free for all ‌Apple News‌ users.

‌Apple News‌ Today will feature highlights of some of the "most fascinating stories in the news" and will be available Monday through Friday in the ‌Apple News‌ app in the United States and in Apple Podcasts.

Along with audio stories, Apple is adding new local and regional news outlets for readers, including The Charlotte Observer, the Miami Herald, and The News & Observer from Raleigh, North Carolina, plus a curated local news experience available in the Bay Area, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco.

The curated news feature will include coverage of topics that are important to local communities like dining and restaurants, weather, news and politics, and more.

"Apple News showcases so much great journalism, and we're excited to help bring it to life in new ways with Apple News+ audio stories and a new daily news show, Apple News Today," said Lauren Kern, editor-in-chief of Apple News. "We also greatly value our many local news partners -- our new local news feature highlights their work for readers who live, and are interested, in those communities."

The new ‌Apple News‌ features are available today as part of the free iOS 13.6 update. Audio stories and ‌Apple News‌ Today can be accessed through the new "Audio" tab in the ‌Apple News‌ app. ‌Apple News‌ is free, while ‌Apple News‌+ costs $9.99 per month after a one-month free trial. Just today, Best Buy began offering a four month free trial for those who are new subscribers and a three month free trial for those who subscribed before.

Tag: Apple News Guide
Related Forum: iOS 13

Top Rated Comments

Deliro Avatar
Deliro
33 months ago

Apple News ... further left than CNN or MSNBC.
Curated news has me suspicious. I don’t need biased views serving me news. Right or left. I want facts and not articles disguised as news but are really editorial opinion pieces. Too many “reporters” today are really just spouting their opinions.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Thoradin Avatar
Thoradin
33 months ago
Why do they always make this stuff limited to the US?
There are News+ subscribers in the UK that would quite like access to this kind of stuff.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iksretep Avatar
iksretep
33 months ago
I have a love/hate relationship with News/News+, just the same as with the new Music app. Too many "we think you'll be interested in" aka "curated" instead of serving me what I followed or downloaded ... then there are times when I click on a link someone forwards one time, and throw the algorithm off for the next two months I get served with something I might not want to see again. I paid for News+ for over a year and cancelled it, no matter what I did; restricted stories in Today, blocked topics, blocked sources, reset identifier, reset the app, called Apple help ... I can't seem to figure it out.

There are times when I just want to tune things out, not because I'm insensitive, but because I want to focus and relax with what really interests me and lowers my blood pressure. I was hoping for a newsstand replacement where I can have all the magazines/subjects I'm interested in in one spot ... I now would much rather subscribe to individual magazines and call it a day.

Same "rant" applies to the Music app/service, I have the developer beta and iOS13 versions. Listen Now, Browse, and Radio seem to have overlapping content many times unrelated to the music type I listen to or I'm interested in because I clicked on a link someone sent me. Seems the library portion of the app is taking a back seat ... Paying for family Music, but daily I think I might just go back to buying songs and disabling all those other sections ... well anyway just my 2c.

I know in the grand scheme of things the above is very insignificant, and is just a click/tap away from me going elsewhere ... but why did Apple separate iTunes for music, podcasts, news, apps, and now it seems they're slowly merging them back together, with "stories" being everywhere as an example.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jonblatho Avatar
jonblatho
33 months ago
Adding a focus on local and regional news is certainly a wise choice. Where it’s married to News+, I’m way more willing to pay for that than having access to hundreds of magazines that I wouldn’t read anyway.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
now i see it Avatar
now i see it
33 months ago
Podcasting reimagined. This will set News+ apart. Good idea.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Icaras Avatar
Icaras
33 months ago
Love that Apple News is now on CarPlay too! This better be in the next iOS 14 build too.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments

Popular Stories

iPhone trade in

Apple Adjusts Trade-In Values for iPhones, Macs, and More

Wednesday January 25, 2023 9:40 am PST by
After announcing new Mac and HomePod models last week, Apple adjusted its trade-in values for select devices in the United States. iPhone trade-in values decreased by up to $80, and most Android smartphones also went down. Mac trade-in values remained unchanged or increased by up to $40 depending on the model, while some Apple Watch models increased in value and others decreased. Trade-in...
Read Full Article • 212 comments
iPhone 14 Pro Purple Side Perspective Feature Purple

iPhone 15 Pro Expected Later This Year With These 7 Exclusive Features

Tuesday January 24, 2023 4:53 pm PST by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are expected to be announced in September as usual. Already, rumors suggest the devices will have at least seven exclusive features not available on the standard iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus. An overview of the seven features rumored to be exclusive to iPhone 15 Pro models:A17 chip: iPhone 15 Pro models will be equipped with an A17...
Read Full Article
Mac mini M2 2023

New 256GB Mac Mini and 512GB MacBook Pro Have Slower SSD Speeds Than Previous Models

Tuesday January 24, 2023 1:11 pm PST by
While the new Mac mini with the M2 chip has a lower $599 starting price, the base model with 256GB of storage has slower SSD read and write speeds compared to the previous-generation model with the M1 chip and 256GB of storage. A teardown of the new Mac mini shared by YouTube channel Brandon Geekabit reveals that the 256GB model is equipped with only a single 256GB storage chip, while the...
Read Full Article • 630 comments
iOS 16

iOS 16.3 for iPhone Launching Next Week With These 4 New Features

Friday January 20, 2023 11:43 am PST by
In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 16.3 will be released to the public next week. The software update will be available for the iPhone 8 and newer and includes a handful of new features, changes, and bug fixes. Below, we've recapped bigger features in iOS 16.3, including support for physical security keys as a two-factor authentication option for Apple ID accounts, worldwide ...
Read Full Article
iPhone 14 Pro Purple Side Perspective Feature Purple

iPhone 15 Expected to Feature Wi-Fi 6E Like Latest Macs and iPad Pro

Wednesday January 25, 2023 5:39 pm PST by
The iPhone 15 will support Wi-Fi 6E, according to a research note shared this week by Barclays analysts Blayne Curtis and Tom O'Malley. The analysts did not specify whether the feature will be available on all models or limited to the Pro models. Apple has added Wi-Fi 6E support to a handful of devices so far, including the latest 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro, 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook...
Read Full Article • 75 comments
maxresdefault

Hands-On With the New M2 Pro Mac Mini

Tuesday January 24, 2023 1:45 pm PST by
The new M2-series MacBook Pro and Mac mini models launched today, marking the debut of the first M2 Pro and M2 Max chips. We have the M2 Pro Mac mini on hand, and thought we'd take a look at the machine and do a series of benchmarks to see how it fits into Apple's lineup. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Base model Mac mini machines come with either an M2 or M2 Pro...
Read Full Article • 138 comments
apple tv 4k red image

Apple Releases tvOS 16.3

Tuesday January 24, 2023 10:10 am PST by
Apple today released tvOS 16.3, the third major point update to the tvOS 16 operating system that originally came out in September. Available for the Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD, tvOS 16.3 comes six weeks after tvOS 16.2, an update that added Apple Music Sing. The tvOS 16.3 update can be downloaded over the air through the Settings app on the ‌‌‌‌Apple TV‌‌‌‌ by going to System > Software...
Read Full Article • 42 comments
maxresdefault

Hands-On With the New M2 Max MacBook Pro

Thursday January 26, 2023 12:14 pm PST by
New 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with the latest M2 Pro and M2 Max chips are available in Apple retail stores and are already in the hands of customers, and we picked up one of the new M2 Max machines to answer all of the questions MacRumors readers considering a purchase might have. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Yesterday, we asked MacRumors fans on...
Read Full Article • 109 comments