The Internet has changed the way we digest news. A lot of people still get newspapers and magazines but the majority of us now rely on applications, web browsers, and social media to find out what’s going on around the world. You can even use applications if you want to. Here are the best Android news apps. It’s important to note that many people prefer specific news sources and have an inherent distrust for others. We’re not recommending any specific news providers but rather basing our judgement on the performance and features of the apps themselves. If you like to listen to the news or get your news via podcasts, check out the best Android podcast apps!
ABC News
[Price: Free]
The ABC News app is first up and when it comes to applications, ABC does quite well. They have personalized alerts so you can get notifications about news that matters to you and an inbox where you can save stories you want to read later. There are also a number of organization features designed to help you stay caught up on the latest news. There is even radio. The design isn’t amazing but the features for it.
BBC News
[Price: Free]
BBC is considered one of the more reliable news sources around the world and the application is no exception. It comes with Holo UI which makes it easy to use and pleasing to look at. It also has push notifications for breaking news, access to BBC World Service radio, text sizing options, various news categories, and personalization to help you better find the news you want. A few people have had some problems here and there but overall, this is a really nice app.
Drudge Report
[Price: Free]
The Drudge Report is a curated news aggregation site that links to news from various media outlets. Think of it as an RSS feed that you don’t have to build yourself. It gets the latest breaking news from an array of categories like world news and sports. There are also push notifications, a widget, and a minimal UI layout to minimize the number of distractions. IT’s generally well regarded and one of the higher rated apps on this list.
Feedly
[Price: Free]
Of course, if you want to create your own news feed using RSS, Feedly is among the top ways to do it. You can find news from a variety of sources including the biggest news outlets in the world. It comes with a nice interface, the ability to integrate with social media, and there is even YouTube channel support. It’s highly rated and became the go-to RSS app after the unfortunate demise of Google Reader.
Flipboard
[Price: Free]
Flipboard is another app that rose to prominence after the death of Google Reader. Much like Feedly, you can create your own news feed from the sources you trust. It features some flashy UI mechanics and a wide range of sources. There are 24 localized regions which covers a majority of the world which is a great feature and there are curated news feeds if you don’t want to make your own.
Google News & Weather
[Price: Free]
Google News & Weather was recently refreshed and re-released by Google with a new card UI. It’s true that most Google fans simply use Google Now these days but Google News & Weather is still a good app for those who want a dedicated news app. It’s more minimal than most of these other apps which is good if you want to keep it simple. It features coverage from 65,000 publications that are separated into categories and, of course, the weather. It’s free, it’s simple, and sometimes that’s all you need.
News Republic
[Price: Free with in app purchases]
News Republic is another news aggregation service much like the Drudge Report. It aggregates news from over 1000 news sources worldwide which is a lot more than you could probably manage on your own. It features a visually appealing interface as well as a number of features such as the ability to learn what you like so you get more headlines on topics you want and fewer headlines on topics you don’t care about. It also includes device syncing, personalization options, and the ability to save articles to read later.
NPR
[Price: Free]
NPR has two news app options that include NPR News and NPR One. NPR One is more focused on audio stuff such as listening to radio stations and there are a few news reading features included. NPR News, on the other hand, focuses more on the reading aspect but also gives you access to a few radio listening features. In both apps you have a few personalization options and access to the most popular NPR content. Either one is good and if you click on the button, you’ll go to NPR’s developer page so you can check out both apps.
reddit is fun
[Price: Free with in app purchases]
I’m not the biggest fan of Reddit but I can acknowledge the site’s usefulness when it comes to trending topics. A lot of people get their news from Reddit and it allows you to discuss the latest news topics and interact with other people. The app reddit is fun is a highly rated and vastly popular reddit app. It’s a little overwhelming for those new to Reddit but all the functionality is there in case you need it. In terms of Reddit apps, it doesn’t get much better than this.
Reddit News Pro
[Price: Free with in app purchases / $1.99]
Reddit News Pro is another Reddit app but this one is more visually gratifying. It features some Material Design elements and puts a larger focus on the visual content than reddit is fun. It comes with all of the Reddit features that most people will need as well as tablet support. There is a free version with in app purchases that just unlocks the paid version or you can buy the paid version on its own for $1.99.
Yahoo News Digest
[Price: Free]
Yahoo News Digest is an interesting hybrid between old school newspapers and today’s Internet “infobesity”. Twice per day, Yahoo releases a news digest that rounds up the top stories of the morning and of the evening. This nullifies the banal task of swiping down gigantic lists of headlines and just lets you read the news. Each story is from multiple sources so as not to show (much) bias and each story includes “atoms” which are key quotes, images, videos, and Wikipedia info about the topics of the story. It’s a nice solution for those who don’t have time to dig through a billion headlines. If you like Yahoo’s content and don’t mind the task of swiping through countless headlines, they also have a regular news app that you can get by clicking here.
Wrap up
If we missed any awesome Android news apps, please let us know in the comments!
To see our full list of our best Android apps and games lists, click here!
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