Signs of Upcoming Audio Support for Apple News+ Found in iOS 13.5.5

[MacRumors]

Apple appears to be moving ahead with plans to provide Apple News+ users with an option to listen to audio stories of some news stories, according to details found in the iOS 13.5.5 beta.

An Apple News+ audio icon in the beta​

An icon depicting an Apple News+ Audio feature is present in the beta, along with some related imagery.

Apple is planning to offer a recap of the day's top stories, based on this wording found in the update: "Listen to a quick recap of today's top stories."

An icon that might indicate when a news story is available with an audio version​

A rumor earlier this month from Digiday first pointed toward Apple's work on audio versions of its news stories.

Over the course of the last several months, Apple has been asking publishers participating in Apple News+ for permission to create audio versions of their stories.

An icon displayed when an audio news recording ends​

Apple plans to handle production costs and compensate publishers for the audio news recordings in the same way Apple News+ payouts work. 50 percent of subscriber revenues go to publishers based on how much time subscribers spend with publishers' content in a 30-day stretch.

It's not clear when exactly Apple plans to roll out support for audio versions of news stories, but given that some of the assets for the feature are in iOS 13.5.5, it's a feature that could be coming soon.

Steve Moser contributed to this report.

Article Link: Signs of Upcoming Audio Support for Apple News+ Found in iOS 13.5.5

 

[sublunar]

I can wholeheartedly support this if it's to help the visually impaired or blind for whole stories but is the likely interface (Siri) up to linking at all together? Even if it's just a curated audio version of the news headlines in soundbite form its a step ahead but Apple must keep the investment going and make it compelling.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

I would much rather use this than try and work Apple News into my routine. I read physical print to get away from devices, not to continue using them. Audio will be much better for commuting.

 

[iMi]

This is great, for a number of reasons, but the cost of the subscription needs to come down. It simply is not worth $10 a month.

 

[nutmac]

IMO, Apple's Music, News, and TV apps suffer from bloat and lack of customizability. It feels like an endless stream of randomly categorized contents.

It's made worse by the fact that contents that require additional payment (e.g., subscription to either Apple or 3rd party) are sprinkled throughout the page.

Where's the coherent minimalist design language Apple is known for? NYTimes is far cleaner and more aesthetically pleasing.

I don't want audio contents to be another randomly inserted contents onto already crowded News interface.

 

[xxray]

At this rate, we’ll just be getting iOS 13 updates forever!

All jokes aside, this is a great accessibility feature.

 

[19SK91]

If only they'd release the regular News app in more countries. It's been years since it's been introduced but still not available in Germany.

 

[entropi]

I agree with nutmac on the bloat (the music app is horrible! soon only o n e track will be viewable if the continue making everything just bigger and bigger...)

But I do love audio and podcasts and would love to have an audio version of nyt, for example. I have little time for reading, but lots of time for listening!

 

[gsmornot]

This is great, for a number of reasons, but the cost of the subscription needs to come down. It simply is not worth $10 a month.

As someone that pays the monthly price I agree. I hope for a bundle one day that will wrap several services into one price. Music for the family, storage, News, AppleTV+ once the free wears off. One payment would be nice and maybe Acrade too which I am not currently willing to pay for. Not a bad looking service, just don't play games that much personally.

 

[4jasontv]

I am surprised they aren't taking this opportunity to offer payments to podcasters as well.

 

[lunarworks]

This is something that would be useful for HomePod.

 

[ipedro]

This is something that would be useful for HomePod.

Great point. AppleNews+ for HomePod would help extend the value of the service.

 

[kukhuvud]

And still no support for flac in iTunes

 

[xMattForever]

I would pay $10 a month for Apple News+ IF it removed all ads (why pay to keep seeing ads?) and it was actually giving you original content (currently the exclusive Apple News+ content is content you can get for free on that news source’s website... it’s not part of that new source’s paid content).

 

[ipedro]

I would pay $10 a month for Apple News+ IF it removed all ads (why pay to keep seeing ads?) and it was actually giving you original content (currently the exclusive Apple News+ content is content you can get for free on that news source’s website... it’s not part of that new source’s paid content).

Access to subscription publications is the point of News+. I'm not sure where you live but here in Canada, we're getting The Toronto Star ($15/mo) and the Wallstreet Journal ($10/mo) in addition to dozens and dozens of magazines that you don't have access to without their own independent subscriptions. The News+ subscription pays for itself many times over.