Flipboard Founder Claims Apple News is 'a Product Living in the Past'

[Jessica Lares]

I like The Daily Edition and The Weekend magazines on Flipboard. My For You page has been weird lately though.

They don't like that the publishers who gave into Apple's closed system weren't willing to do the same with them earlier.

 

[Stella]

I'd rather use Flipboard than having to change locales so I can use Apple news in Canada... Flipboard has far better content also.
[doublepost=1518639279][/doublepost]

Flipboard sees almost no use these days and hasn't been updated in years. Those are strong words from someone in an even worse spot.

Thats total BS.


Flipboard App: Look at its history, there's been plenty of updates:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/flipboard-news-for-our-time/id358801284?mt=8

Also, changes to make it easier for publishers, just last October:
https://mashable.com/2017/10/10/fli...m-mobile-performance-mike-mccue/#.OY2Ex_ieSqa

 

[ThunderSkunk]

Last year I used the news app. By the end of a year all I had were insane articles by political extremist blogs of right and left wing nutters masquerading as journalists, burying my actual desired science news two pages down.

I'm taking this year off from news. Whatever it is, if it's not in a printed issue of Scientific American, I'm not reading it. Have your stupid civil war, I don't care.

 

[BigMcGuire]

Last year I used the news app. By the end of a year all I had were insane articles by political extremist blogs of right and left wing nutters masquerading as journalists, burying my actual desired science news two pages down.

I'm taking this year off from news. Whatever it is, if it's not in a printed issue of Scientific American, I'm not reading it. Have your stupid civil war, I don't care.

Kinda similar to what I experienced with Google's Newsstand. After awhile every damn article was political - extremist in every definition of the word. "***** president ate food this way!" and it didn't start with our current one, it only got worse with that. I too am taking a long break from news.

Finding a lot of happiness in reading BOOKS that I buy for ~$9 or less if physical copy at a book store. Text, no ads, informative, non-disruptive, and quite interesting. I can get used to this.

 

[Stella]

Flipboard is estimated to have a user base of 100 million. It’s also not restricted to iOS.

Hmm, Apple News is installed by default. People have to actually know about Flipboard to find it and install it. Guess which platform will survive in the long term? To Flipboard: find a buyer. Maybe become Samsung News

 

[gregorynacu]

So, it’s in the past, but it’s still not available in Canada, so I have yet to even have the opportunity to try it.

Gotta love the pace of technology.

 

[jtara]

I miss Zite as well!

Can never forgive Flipboard for buying Zite just to shut it down. They were never serious about incorporating Zite's features.

I use News360 now, but it's not as good as Zite was.

I just can't give any credence to what the founder of Flipboard has to say.

 

[oneMadRssn]

Name a single app they’ve banned from the store after “copying” features. I’ll wait.

Also your comment makes no sense. I’m supposed to assume something is true because some random person on the internet made a joke about it? Ok...

f.lux was never allowed into the app store, but Apple shamelessly copied that feature. f.lux is still not allowed on the app store.

Finder for AirPods was pulled from the app store, and is still banned. Apple then added an AirPods finding feature into Find My iPhone.

Coolpixel was pulled for it's screen recording feature. That was added in iOS11, not sure if Coolpixel has been allowed back into the app store with it's screen recording functionality.

WiFi syncing was briefly possible through an app before Apple took it down, and later added the functionality through iTunes.

I can keep going. There are literally dozens of examples. Usually though it's not that an entire app is banned, but the developer is told the app won't be allowed unless they remove an offending feature. And usually Apple introduces that feature on their own.

I'm not really trying to hate on Apple here. I think 85% of the time they are right to reject the app for circumventing an API or other OS protections to implement a feature. But in a few instances it is a bit fishy.

 

[threesixty360]

Within the context of this article, this statement implies that this is because Apple News comparatively sucks.

What it fails to point out is that this difference in audience numbers is, in no small part, influenced by the fact that Apple News is not available in as many countries as Flipboard. So, it sort of seems like “cherry picking” stats to support Flipboard’s view. Also, this would suggest that Apple isn’t putting their full effort into actually competing with Flipboard, which begs the question, “Why is Flipboard going out of their way to denigrate Apple News?”

Flipboard is also on Android and others platforms and has been going for far longer than apple’s news. So the number as you have pointed out is disingenuous.

In fact, I remember Nilay at the verge saying a year or so ago that Apple news was a massive driver of traffic for them!

Flipboard is scared because they have to make money with their service and Apple just have to keep their customers happy so they can sell more phones. It’s the same problem that Spotify etc.. have with competing with Apple. Apple wants to sell phones so their software products are essentially loss leaders for them.

So the flipboard guy is trying to convince would be customers for his product (media publications) that apple not taking a cut of their revenue is bad for them compared to what flipboard taking a cut and “curating” things. I don’t think these publishers will agree with that one some how ...

 

[silvetti]

I would love to use Apple News but since I wasn't born in US, UK, Aus I can't.
In that case I have to use Flipboard if I want to use the same style of app.
I don't understand how hard it is to just enable Apple News for RoW even without curated sections for the specific countries. Can I just read TheVerge and Macrumors there ? Or do I need to be an American for that ?
[doublepost=1518688513][/doublepost]

f.lux was never allowed into the app store, but Apple shamelessly copied that feature. f.lux is still not allowed on the app store.

Finder for AirPods was pulled from the app store, and is still banned. Apple then added an AirPods finding feature into Find My iPhone.

Coolpixel was pulled for it's screen recording feature. That was added in iOS11, not sure if Coolpixel has been allowed back into the app store with it's screen recording functionality.

WiFi syncing was briefly possible through an app before Apple took it down, and later added the functionality through iTunes.

I can keep going. There are literally dozens of examples. Usually though it's not that an entire app is banned, but the developer is told the app won't be allowed unless they remove an offending feature. And usually Apple introduces that feature on their own.

I'm not really trying to hate on Apple here. I think 85% of the time they are right to reject the app for circumventing an API or other OS protections to implement a feature. But in a few instances it is a bit fishy.

Those are all using custom APIs and using clever ways to workaround Apple's limited SDK and they were all SYSTEM functions.

Flipboard is not. So it doesn't apply there.


Also let me just add this:
Apple News
Release September 16, 2015
STILL Only available to this date in US, UK and Australia

 

[TiggrToo]

I don't understand how hard it is to just enable Apple News for RoW even without curated sections for the specific countries. Can I just read TheVerge and Macrumors there ? Or do I need to be an American for that ?

Given everything else that revolves around media content on the ol' caternet, it might well be that Apple only have agreements in place to replicate content in those regions. Not stating I know this for a fact, but that's invariably the story behind instances of 'why can't Neflix show movie X in territory y?

Apple News displays content without embedded adverts - I'd imagine it requires legal contracts to do so.

 

[Unami]

that might well be. in the real world it‘s mostly the other way round, because a lot of people have already stopped using flipboard while apple hasn’t bothered to release the news app in more than a few countries - so that‘s still rather futuristic for most people.

 

[bruinsrme]

Number of times I checked Apple News today, 3.

Number of times I checked Flipboard today, 0.

Never heard of Flipboard until I saw the article.
As soon as I went to the website I was met with a page of verious types of "ads" that could be run on portable devices.

Whether it is advertisements or how their product could be configured, I was immediately turned off with the association of ads and news.

Apple news works for me. Apple news 5 and flipboard webpage 1 (their app zero)
[doublepost=1518695231][/doublepost]

Last year I used the news app. By the end of a year all I had were insane articles by political extremist blogs of right and left wing nutters masquerading as journalists, burying my actual desired science news two pages down.

I'm taking this year off from news. Whatever it is, if it's not in a printed issue of Scientific American, I'm not reading it. Have your stupid civil war, I don't care.

Kinda similar to what I experienced with Google's Newsstand. After awhile every damn article was political - extremist in every definition of the word. "***** president ate food this way!" and it didn't start with our current one, it only got worse with that. I too am taking a long break from news.

Finding a lot of happiness in reading BOOKS that I buy for ~$9 or less if physical copy at a book store. Text, no ads, informative, non-disruptive, and quite interesting. I can get used to this.

Same here. The media and the product they are delivering is maddening. Propaganda at the finest. There is a lot of money being thrown around to these puppets can spew their agenda

 

[imronburgundy]

I used to like Flipboard back in the day, but Reddit has pretty much taken over any social media for me.

 

[jarman92]

f.lux was never allowed into the app store, but Apple shamelessly copied that feature. f.lux is still not allowed on the app store.

Finder for AirPods was pulled from the app store, and is still banned. Apple then added an AirPods finding feature into Find My iPhone.

Coolpixel was pulled for it's screen recording feature. That was added in iOS11, not sure if Coolpixel has been allowed back into the app store with it's screen recording functionality.

WiFi syncing was briefly possible through an app before Apple took it down, and later added the functionality through iTunes.

I can keep going. There are literally dozens of examples. Usually though it's not that an entire app is banned, but the developer is told the app won't be allowed unless they remove an offending feature. And usually Apple introduces that feature on their own.

I'm not really trying to hate on Apple here. I think 85% of the time they are right to reject the app for circumventing an API or other OS protections to implement a feature. But in a few instances it is a bit fishy.

The clear intent of the original comment was to imply Apple blocks/bans certain apps from the App Store as a way to quash competition of their first-party features. Every example you cited is an "app" that clearly and flagrantly violated the App Store guidelines (which you mention). f.lux was never allowed in the Store for this reason; Finder for AirPods was seemingly allowed in accidentally and then removed for obvious violations. Further, none of these features actually earn Apple money or meaningfully add to the value of iOS. Nobody buys an iPhone because of Night Shift or Find my AirPods or screen recording.

Conversely, Apple allows Spotify, Tidal, Amazon, Pandora, and other music apps even after creating Apple Music and having every reason to increase usage of it. Apple allows every Google app in the App Store. More to the point of this article, Apple allows Flipboard and dozens of similar apps to remain and flourish. To say otherwise is not only ridiculous but is clearly refuted by the facts.

 

[ignatius345]

I have to agree with this, it really feels like a news app from 2010

How exactly? It feels like a pretty straighforward feed of stories to me. It doesn't have the gimmicky interface of Flipboard, granted, but it feels up-to-date with the current iOS typography and UI.
[doublepost=1518718000][/doublepost]

Wait a minute, are you telling me people actually use the terrible app and service that is known as Apple news? I don’t believe anyone would actually use it

I use it multiple times a day. I have a few publications I subscribe to (NY Times, WSJ) entered into it and find it a simple way to keep up with what's going on.
[doublepost=1518718260][/doublepost]

Last year I used the news app. By the end of a year all I had were insane articles by political extremist blogs of right and left wing nutters masquerading as journalists, burying my actual desired science news two pages down.

For what it's worth, you can mute specific publications and topics, and also "train" Apple News by liking/disliking stories and topics.

But overall, I totally agree with you. The media landscape is a frickin' nightmare right now. I subscribe to a couple print publications just to cut out some screen time and have a less click-baity experience.

 

[fairuz]

I've been hating on Apple's built-in apps a lot lately, but I actually browse Apple News pretty much every day and like its interface and curation. It's very simple, just scroll down and view stuff, minimal distractions.

I used to use Google News but found its curation kinda odd, which surprised me, and its interface wasn't nearly as nice, unsurprisingly. And it had a heavy bias by default.
[doublepost=1518721186][/doublepost]

f.lux was never allowed into the app store, but Apple shamelessly copied that feature. f.lux is still not allowed on the app store.

Finder for AirPods was pulled from the app store, and is still banned. Apple then added an AirPods finding feature into Find My iPhone.

Coolpixel was pulled for it's screen recording feature. That was added in iOS11, not sure if Coolpixel has been allowed back into the app store with it's screen recording functionality.

WiFi syncing was briefly possible through an app before Apple took it down, and later added the functionality through iTunes.

I can keep going. There are literally dozens of examples. Usually though it's not that an entire app is banned, but the developer is told the app won't be allowed unless they remove an offending feature. And usually Apple introduces that feature on their own.

I'm not really trying to hate on Apple here. I think 85% of the time they are right to reject the app for circumventing an API or other OS protections to implement a feature. But in a few instances it is a bit fishy.

The examples you gave were system mods. They just don't allow apps that take too much system control. I don't think f.lux even had an App Store candidate cause there's no way they can change the screen color systemwide. Maybe they copy the features after in some cases, but they don't ban those apps for the purpose of copying them. That wouldn't help them anyway.

I'd be more suspicious of the restrictions on subscription-based apps where Apple try to force big companies into giving them a 30% cut.
[doublepost=1518721453][/doublepost]

Wait a minute, are you telling me people actually use the terrible app and service that is known as Apple news? I don’t believe anyone would actually use it

I think you're getting it confused with Newsstand, which was in fact just a waste of space on my phone due to it being too complicated for me to bother.

 

[hdgarcia]

I used to love Flipboard when they first launched but they changed and a few updates later really didn't like it. And haven't used it or had it installed since.

Big fan of Apple News though, hope they bring it to the Mac.



The Spotlight tab is a curated section "From the Apple News Editors":


https://www.apple.com/uk/news/

also, from what I see every story in apple news has a share button on it. I can share with anything that has exposed sharing in iOS.

 

[dannyyankou]

There's no social sharing capability

Hmm...

 

[DeepIn2U]

I would love to use Apple News but since I wasn't born in US, UK, Aus I can't.
In that case I have to use Flipboard if I want to use the same style of app.
I don't understand how hard it is to just enable Apple News for RoW even without curated sections for the specific countries. Can I just read TheVerge and Macrumors there ? Or do I need to be an American for that ?
[doublepost=1518688513][/doublepost]

Those are all using custom APIs and using clever ways to workaround Apple's limited SDK and they were all SYSTEM functions.

Flipboard is not. So it doesn't apply there.


Also let me just add this:
Apple News
Release September 16, 2015
STILL Only available to this date in US, UK and Australia

AirPod Finder, and WiFi sync where not using custom API’s. Case in point GoodReader has had it’s own local file browser and wifi sync since iOS 4 and was never taken down. One could say custom API yet one wasn’t taken down. Unless we have logs stating some features were capable or not with custom APIs we play a cat & mouse game.

 

[bliggs]

I absolutely love Apple News so I guess I'm living in the past and loving it... And I share articles on Twitter with it every day so I'm really not sure what the guy is talking about. It doesn't sound like he has ever even used it.

 

[charlituna]

Flipboard sees almost no use these days and hasn't been updated in years. Those are strong words from someone in an even worse spot.

oh its been updated. just not for the better. if you look at the reviews on the app store so many of them are talking about really basic stuff like freezing, way slow loading, cell data hogging etc.