Google’s freshly revamped Google News app can be downloaded by next week on both Android and iOS run devices. The Mountain View, California-based company has said that it has completely reworked the way the news is presented to users and latest technology like artificial intelligence has also been deployed in good measure to make the user experience more immersive.
The company felt the app, originally launched around 15 years ago badly needed a revamp, plus the issue of fake news had to be addressed to ensure only reliable information reaches the public at large.
The announcement on this came at the Google I/O developers’ conference currently on at their headquarters. In the words of Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, news was ‘foundational’ to the way democracies function and Google is trying its bit to enhance the quality of news presentation.
The highlight of the redesigned Google News app is it has tried to look at news from 3 different perspectives as far as the consumer of the information is concerned. One is the kind who wish to keep informed of what is happening around the world and also close to their whereabouts. The second category would want to dig a little deeper into the issue and understand the full significance of the development. The third in the hierarchy are the publishers who have their own use of news stories and can use the app as the trusted source.
So, the first part will be called “News for you”, a capsule of the top news developments including the ones in your location, which Google will find and add along with the stories from the global and national levels.
Then the ‘Full Coverage’ tab on the app is the one that has the complete details, including reports and analyses from multiple sources and will be presented in different formats as well. This will ensure the user going through these will be fully informed on the particular news development. This section will not have a personalization angle and will have universal appeal.
The Google News app already has a separate section for the publishers of news so that the users can choose the ones they prefer to read from. This facility is available in the Newsstand section and has 60 publishers and more may join. Those users who have opted for the paid Google account subscription will be able to choose their favourite publisher and get the news from them across all Google platforms, delivered directly.
Some of the existing apps/features like Google Play Newsstand and Google News and the Weather app on mobile will all stand replaced by the new and reworked, Google News app.