Launch your own newspaper app

There are over than 4 million apps in google play store alone. From calming meditation apps to breaking news short stories - there’s an app for everything. The popularity comes from the way a mobile app integrates the content to the device. Users no longer have to open a browser and search for a service. Once committed, an app helps deliver a user experience that is unmatched as it removes any and all friction possible between brand content and readers.

News apps are an easy way to ensure that your loyal readers have access to a more personalised content. There are several ways developing a news app can be universally beneficial. Here are four essential benefits to developing a news app.

1. You control content distribution:

   When a user lands on your content through search engines and social media, you have less control of how your content is distributed. There are also hurdles you now have to jump to ensure that the content is visible like SEO and social media following. If you have successfully found a reader base that values your content and has installed your app, you regain the ability to connect readers with the stories most relevant to them based on their reading behaviour.

   This benefits both the reader and publishers. You can share relevant stories to the user giving them a custom experience while ensuring that your content pieces don't end up buried by flaw in algorithms.

2. Craft a superior user experience:

   A news app allows you to provide the best possible user experience that feels customised to them. You can personalise the content, enable notifications that are relevant - be it in-app, email or push notifications. You also have data on the most read articles with apps, so you can push any content pieces that didn't get attention through newsletters or other lists that are useful for users. You can also use in-app data to get a better understanding of your audience and use these insights to improve your content strategy.

3. Push notifications:

   This has enabled mobile apps to revolutionize the way users consume daily news. Once a user turns on push notifications, they get updates on breaking news, special stories and more. It's an easy way to bring them back to the platform and ensure retention.
   Push notifications can also be personalized to ensure that users aren't bombarded with notifications.

   According to eMarketer, 43 percent of US smartphone users click on news notifications all of the time, 45 percent of that audience click some of the time, and only 11 percent claim to rarely click on new alerts. This is why it's important to not overuse them.

4. App Store Optimization (ASO):

   Another benefit with the news apps is that you have visibility within the App Store and Google Playstore. This means you can practice ASO to ensure that your app is visible to a relevant audience, allowing you to acquire organic users in a cost-effective manner while encouraging positive feedback for popularity.

Profile: Your news app should help users create and manage a unique profile. It should also have social integration so that users can share content across their social media channels with ease.

Content tools: Your readers should be able to engage with news content by liking, commenting, sharing and saving an article for later. These tools make your content more interactive while also increasing the possibility of going viral. It helps users return to content they find intrigued.

Newsfeed API: This is needed to provide a news feed according to user preferences. A successful news feed will increase engagement and enable readers to find relevant content, saved articles and favorite categories.

Search function: This is particularly important for news apps, allowing users to find categories, hashtags and individual articles relevant to their interests helps simplify their navigation journey. You should offer an advanced search function where users can filter results based on time, category and content type to get to the desired content quickly.

Categories: For best results, bucket content into categories that users can follow, browse and opt-in for notifications for a single topic. These should be easy and simple.

Push notifications and alerts: It should be possible for readers to get in-app notifications, email alerts and push notifications from the app. This enables the user to receive news in their preferred manner and helps bring them back to the app.

Curious to start your own news app? We've helped publishers build their own news apps in a matter of days with our reactive native apps. Schedule a demo today to get started on your app journey!