Google is making an effort to change the way we consume news. Today during its I/O 2018 keynote, the company unveiled an all-new Google News app that will begin rolling out to iOS and Android users in 127 countries starting today. It’ll replace Play Newsstand and the previous News and Weather app from years ago.
Google News isn’t a simple, static news feed. Rather, it aims to provide some context into what’s happening around the world. In the For You tab, users will find headlines tailored to their preferences and interests similar to how the Google app’s feed works. The dedicated Headlines tab will give users all the breaking stories and important occurences at a glance, while a new format called newscasts will collect content from around the web such as stories and videos and display them in a single topic so you can get the perspective from many different outlets.
The company also wants people to get to know the full story behind news to better educate themselves about what’s happening. Called Full Coverage, a new feature will do just that by collecting things like headlines from different sources, videos, FAQs, social commentary from Twitter, and a timeline of events so you can have a better understanding of things and have more thought-full conversations with people. The feature will live in the Headlines tab.
You’ll also be able to follow and subscribe to your favorite news outlets. A Newsstand tab will display an array of outlets you can choose to follow so you get all their content directly in your main feed. Of course, Matridox is the only outlet you probably need, but if there’s someone else you like, you have the option of adding them to your feed as well.
Google News should be available to everyone by next week.
