MacDirectory magazine is the premiere creative lifestyle magazine for Apple enthusiasts featuring interviews, in-depth tech reviews, Apple news, insights, latest Apple patents, apps, market analysis, entertainment and more.
Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/1277879
Apple, Best Buy Offer Four Months of Apple News+ Free So You Can Check out the New Features in iOS 13.6 By Jesse Hollington Back in May we began hearing reports that Apple was working on introducing audio versions of news stories for Apple News+ subscribers, no doubt to help sweeten the pot and encourage more uptake for its premium subscription news and magazine service, which by many reports has been struggling to gain traction, especially in comparison to its other services. The first iOS 13.6 beta released in early June (it was still being called iOS 13.5.5 at that point), also revealed code suggesting that Apple was laying the groundwork for the new service, and with yesterday's release of iOS 13.6 it appears that the feature is finally live and ready to go, and it's actually not the only thing that Apple is doing to help promote its paid Apple News+ service. While audio stories may certainly be the most interesting new feature coming to the Apple News app, Apple has also announced several other initiatives, including expanded local news coverage that will begin in selected regions and expand from there, as well as Apple News Today, a daily news briefing that's basically the first regular podcast that's being produced directly by Apple. Audio Stories With the redesigned News app in iOS 13.6 you'll now be able to listen to your news in addition to reading it, with the Apple News team producing about 20 audio stories a week that will be spread across diverse areas of interest. Apple has hired professional voice actors to narrate stories ranging from traditional news reports to long- form audio from various sources such as Esquire, Essence, Fast Company, GQ, New York magazine, Sports Illustrated, TIME, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Wired, and more, as well as the Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal. Unfortunately, for now at least it looks like Apple News+ Audio Stories will be limited