How To Build A News Mobile App: A Complete Guide

The way we consume news has undergone drastic changes in the last decade. Simply having a website is no longer enough. Modern users demand instant news updates that can be accessed across multiple devices and easily shared via social media. Traditional newspapers and TV broadcasts are giving way to the fast-paced, personalized world of news mobile apps.

For many, news apps have become a trusted alternative to social media for staying informed. They provide reliable and current information, whether it’s in-depth analysis or breaking news, and allow people to interact with content according to their preferences. It’s no surprise that news mobile apps are indeed now one of the most popular app categories worldwide.

On average, people spend approximately three hours a day on mobile apps, and with numerous choices, keeping users engaged can be a significant challenge. However, a well-designed news app offers several benefits. The app’s design and layout keep users engaged by providing quick access to news or updates, along with personalized content. This results in increased app downloads, improved customer retention, and enhanced brand visibility.

If you’re thinking about building your news app, this blog will walk you through everything you need to know, from app types and essential features to the steps involved in development. 

So, let’s get started.

Why Build A News Mobile App?

Today, people’s interaction with their mobile phones is much more frequent, and they are increasingly replacing physical things. Hence, it has become vital for news mobile apps to provide content to users in the medium they are most comfortable with and can easily access.

A content distributor needs a source to reach an increasing number of users and gather benefits and feedback. And what better platform can there be in today’s world than the internet to reach potential users and share content?

Users spend 31 minutes each day on news apps.

ThinkWithGoogle

Today, most prominent news media firms, including The Washington Post, Fox News, CNN, USA Today, BBC, AAJTAK, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and many more, are utilizing news mobile apps to expand their reach to the target audience and serve users conveniently. By developing the app, they can increase interaction with their users. Today, these media companies have a vast number of users who utilize their mobile apps, allowing them to reach all of them instantly via push notifications.

Market Insights For News Mobile App

The news mobile app market is experiencing rapid growth as the global pace of digital news consumption continues to increase. The growing use of smartphones and improvements in internet connectivity have transformed the way users access and engage with information. While developers continue to advance technologies and interactive capabilities, the industry is poised for significant growth.

Let’s have a look at key market Insights of the news mobile app:

• The global news application market was valued at approximately $ 11.46 billion in 2023. The market is projected to grow to $36,320 million by 2030, resulting in a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.7% from 2024 to 2030.
• In 2023, Android had a dominant market share in the mobile news apps platform segment, with a share of more than 67.1%.
• The global market for daily newsletters was valued at $ 12.54 billion in 2023. It is expected to grow to $ 18.66 billion by 2030, with an average annual growth rate of 6.4% between 2024 and 2030.
• The leading companies in the global news application market include Apple, Google, Microsoft, The New York Times, and others. The top four companies collectively hold an estimated market share of 38%.

Digital News Purchases Worldwide As Of Feb 2020

What Are The Benefits Of Getting A News Mobile App Developed?

There are several, and a few of them have been discussed below:

Higher Conversion Rate

Compared to newspapers or magazines, the conversions on the app are significantly higher, as it allows users to communicate directly, whereas this is not possible with physical newspapers.

More Revenue

The app’s revenue can be increased by integrating advertising and marketing functionality into the app.

Reach More Subscribers

With the app it gets way easier to reach more and more subscribers, thus increasing the readers to the news or content.

User Attraction

More than any newspaper or physical magazine, the user attraction is much higher in news apps. The apps allow users to communicate directly, and in case users have any suggestions, they can submit them through the app. This will also give app owners an idea of how to enhance the app’s likability.

Better Reach

With a news app, it is possible to reach more customers with less effort, and the content distribution becomes easier. All app users can be notified instantly with just a tap on their mobile screen or system.

Personalization

The News Mobile App allows serving personalized content to users based on their behaviour. App owners can choose to serve content according to the user’s preferences, and advertisements can be served based on their interests. This helps to increase the conversion rate and get more revenue.

Next, let’s explore the various types of news-based apps

Types Of News Mobile Apps

Mainly, there are two types of News Apps:

News Aggregator Apps

In this app category, the app covers the happenings around the regional, national, or international arena. This category of news app is relatively popular among users, as it allows them to stay informed about the world’s news at any time. However, it is essential to present news content that is engaging and captures attention immediately. Apart from important news concerning politics, crime, business, sports, entertainment, and weather, users can also be informed about upcoming events and exhibitions across various cities. The app can be accessed for free or for a fee, as decided by the app owners.

News Resources Apps

These mobile apps are for the news resources, and they would benefit people who own newspapers & web media.

Monetization Strategies For News App

One of the primary reasons for creating mobile apps is to increase revenue. Like any other mobile app, News Mobile Apps also require a monetization strategy to maximize profits. Here we have mentioned a few of the monetization models for News Apps:

Advertisements

Advertising is one of the most popular monetization models among the News mobile app. However, here the advertising is quite different from that in print newspapers. Within the app, various advertisement formats are available, including splash ads during the app’s release, as well as other basic advertisements that are displayed on the app screen continuously.

Paid Subscriptions

This is a standard app monetization strategy again. However, users often don’t like the idea of paying money to subscribe to news. Hence, two different app versions can be introduced at the time of app release, i.e., Paid and Free. Users should be offered an ad-free experience on the paid app version, along with the other personalized services.

Organize Events

When app owners receive a positive response from their potential audience, they can consider this monetization model as well. Often, app owners can organize a few events and then advertise the app on these platforms.

Donations

This monetization model is not widely used, and it only works effectively when the app has a substantial user base. Thus, the app can ask its readers to support the online magazine with donations.

eStore Integration

Integrating a mini e-commerce store with a news website could also help you attract customers to purchase products and stay engaged with the app for a longer duration.

Most Popular News Mobile Apps

When entering this market, it is vital to be aware of the competitors and thoroughly explore the market. So here we are mentioning the most popular mobile apps:

The New York Times

This is a unique News App that has its distinct language style, and it is known for addressing both high society and ordinary people. One cannot imagine the U.S. press sans the New York Times.

The mobile app offered by The New York Times sends notifications regarding the latest news and offers daily tip sheets. The app provides The Daily 360, featuring 360-degree videos from Times journalists around the world. It also allows you to save articles to read at your convenience. Additionally, it offers numerous practical and exciting features.

Feedly

Easy to customize according to users’ preferences, Feedly is a renowned app. In this app, users must find their favorite resources using the search bar and add them to their list. The app utilizes an extensive media base that can be easily supplemented with any of the user’s favorite sites. It also enables users to save articles to Pocket for deferred reading. However, the app also has a few shortcomings. To use the app, a Google account is required, and only then can the service be accessed. Few users dislike this obligation, and one additional mandatory condition is that the user must visit the site to read the entire article.

Newsy

This app provides concise reports designed for individuals who dislike reading lengthy texts or articles. Through this app, they get appealing video news with cute speakers reading to them. Additionally, the video quality is excellent. This way, the Newsy app is able to captivate the user’s attention successfully.

NowThis News

This app presents the news in the form of short videos. Here, it also presents the news playfully, further entertaining the audience. Among the most successful mobile apps, the NowThis News app enables users to save any video to the “Saved Videos” section. Here, all the news is organized into various categories, and significant stories are highlighted in the Top Stories section or a dedicated section. In the app, all the videos are in non-stop mode. This app is more about fun, so don’t expect it to provide you with the straight facts.

Additionally, the sources used for the news here include The Guardian, The New York Times, and other reputable media outlets.

News360

This app is known for displaying only the type of news preferred by its users.

News360 app allows you to save articles and read them later, even when offline. Additionally, by using the Local News button and the Geolocation feature, the app enables you to discover local happenings in your neighbourhood. However, the biggest con of the app is the procedure of adding the news sources. Here, similar sources cannot be grouped, and the news cannot be ranked by novelty.

General Features Of News Mobile Apps

• User Registration & login via email & social profiles
• Browse News Categories
• Underline & save text
• Save news and quotes for reading later
• Machine learning based news on user preferences
• Social integration for sharing news
• Push notifications and news alerts via email and SMS
• Search & filter news based on date, region, topic, and category
• Comment & like on the news
• View live broadcast of News & Radio channels
• Offline access for news
• Listen to the news in an audio format
• Participate in Poll & Ratings

News Feed API

One of the most significant aspects of any news aggregator app is the News Feed API. You can create your custom API or select from a broad range of news APIs that can be integrated into a news app. Here are some of the most used News Feed APIs:

• News Feed API
• Mediastack
• Event Registry
• Bing Web Search API
• WebHose
• GeekFlare
• Bloomberg News API for a finance-based news app
• Dow Jones News API for a financial news app
• ESPN API for sports news app

Advanced Features For News Reading Mobile Apps

It is essential for any app to be integrated with basic functionalities; however, the app is often also integrated with advanced functionalities to better serve its users. In the News Mobile App, these advanced features are available for use.

Push Notification

This is a vital feature for a News App, as it helps increase user retention and allows for sending crucial updates related to news or other exciting offers.

Filtering

A news app can benefit from smart news filtering functionality, which allows users to segregate various news sections, including business, sports, politics, international, and more. Users can opt for filters such as Breaking News, Most Popular, and others.

Night Mode

This feature is for those who want to read news in the dark without squinting their eyes.

Search

Using this feature, users can find the exact news or information they are searching for by simply typing a few relevant keywords.

Constant News Update

The app should have the functionality to update the news every few minutes or every hour. The admin must continually update to keep users informed about the latest global developments.

Smartwatch Integration

Now, people can also read the latest news on their smartwatches. It could be integrated and could prove to be an excellent advanced feature for tech-savvy news app users.

Recently BBC experimented with presenting news by speed reading on smartwatches.

Audio & Video Integration

Often, users are short on time to read the news, and in such cases, the audio format can be helpful, allowing users to convert the news into an audio format and listen to it. Video Integration can also be introduced, as often users prefer to watch news in video format.

Personalization

According to this functionality, users will be displayed content according to their preferences.

Voice Assistance

The news-reading mobile app can also be paired with voice assistance features, which would help you benefit from the voice-based search trend. For example,

Google Assistant can now read Google News Stories out loud

Content Management System

A robust Content Management System can also be offered for the backend development. It is vital that the content is managed systematically, and often opinion polls can even be conducted for times when an important issue is being surveyed.

Filtering System

In the news app, users can be allowed to find news based on the category they choose. Like, they should be able to select content by topic.

Follow A News Topic

The app can offer a “follow topic” feature, where users can pick topics they are interested in. Thus, as they open an app, their feed would be filled with new articles on only these topics they have followed.

Real Time Analytics

Delivering real-time analytics and historical reporting for news mobile apps and websites is a highly beneficial practice that helps news providers analyze which content resonates well with their audience. The Google Realtime Content Insights does an excellent job of providing insights into news-based content performance.

Offline Mode

During times of no internet connection, users should still be able to use the app. For this, the app allows its users to save articles to their smartphones or tablets and read them even when there is no internet connectivity.

Augmented Reality Integration

Another integration that could make a news app interactive and more helpful to users. The New York Times also uses AR in their news app.

Social Media Sharing

This functionality will allow your app users to share news articles with a single tap on their devices.

Geo-Targeting

Using this functionality, the app will be able to know the location of users’ devices and send them news regarding events occurring nearby.

Loyalty Program Integration

A loyalty program offers its customers multiple deals in various news categories, which lets them earn rewards and benefits.

CRM System Integration

Integrating a CRM system in a mobile app allows sales, marketing, and customer service teams to manage key information and data in real time.

Technology Stack For Developing A News & Magazine Mobile App

• For Application and Data: React, NGINX, CloudFlare, Google App Engine, Zepto
• For Utilities: Google Analytics, Twilio, SendGrid, UserTesting
• For Business Tools: G Suite, Intercom, Help Scout
• For Programming languages: Objective-C, Swift, Java, Kotlin
• For Toolkit: Apple Xcode, Android Studio & Android Developer Tools
• For SDK: iOS SDK, Android SDK

How Much Does It Cost To Create A News Mobile App?

To get an app developed is quite easy as all you need to do is find a good app development company offering quality services and has a team of proficient developers, designers, and QA testers.

As it comes to determining app development cost, several factors are considered, such as:

Number of Platforms

The development cost increases as per the platforms the app is being developed for, like if the app is solely developed for Android or iOS platforms, the cost would be much lower compared to when the app is being developed for both platforms. After all, for one platform, one team of developers would be required; however, for two platforms, two development teams would be needed. Meanwhile, the app development team consists of:

• Project Manager
• App Developers
• App Designers
• Back-end Developers
• Quality Analysis Expertise

Hourly App Development Rates

Usually, the hourly rate of app development varies from region to region, like the hourly development rates are higher in the regions of the USA and Europe, while much lower in India. Hence, the cost to develop would ultimately be much lower if one chooses an Indian app development company for the development of a News App.

Design

The more complex the design, the higher the development cost. Thus, when the app has a simple design, it would take fewer hours to develop, hence a lower development cost; however, the complex app design would need more time, hence a higher development cost.

Features

When the app is being developed with the basic features, it would cost less; however, if the app is also integrated with the advanced features, then the development cost would be comparatively higher.

For the app development cost, the one with basic features and for a single platform is going to cost around $25000-$35000, and the one with advanced features and for two platforms would cost around $50000-$60000.

Conclusion

Creating a news mobile app that meets the needs of your audience is an excellent move in today’s fast-paced world. With people craving personalized, up-to-date news, an app that delivers this can become very popular. By integrating innovative features, you can keep users engaged and ensure they keep coming back. Additionally, making the application accessible across all devices helps reach a broader audience and also increases the chances of user retention.

To generate revenue from the app, methods such as in-app ads, premium subscriptions, or sponsored content can be used. During the app development process, it is essential to consider user needs, preferences, behaviors, and how they prefer to interact with news. Whether you’re using a no-code platform or hiring a professional, having the right approach will help you build a successful news mobile app.

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