Apple News launches audio features and curated local news

Today, Apple released Apple News+ audio stories, a CarPlay app, Apple News Today free for all users, and curated local news. They also confirmed more than 125 million monthly active users for its News app. Apple News+ subscriber counts were not revealed.

Apple News+ Audio Stories

Apple has just announced and is releasing Apple News+ Audio Stories. They’ll produce about 20 a week for now, and are narrated by professional voice actors.

Apple News+ Audio Story in Essence

Narrated by professional voice actors, these are audio versions of some of the best feature reporting and long-form pieces published by Esquire, Essence, Fast Company, GQ, New York magazine, Sports Illustrated, TIME, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Wired, and more, and newspapers including the Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal.

Apple

Apple News+ Audio Stories are available for Apple News+ today on the Apple News+ and Audio tabs in the News app.

Apple News Today

Alongside the Apple News+ audio stories, Apple introduced Apple News Today, which is available for free to all users. Hosted by Apple News editors Shumita Basu and Duarte Geraldino, they’ll guide listeners through some of the most fascinating stories in the news in under 10 minutes — and how the world’s best journalists are covering them, every Monday-Friday. You can listen to the first episode today from Apple Podcasts and the Apple News Audio tab.

50Apple News Today in Apple Podcasts

CarPlay App

Apple also introduced support for the News app in CarPlay, so users can listen to audio stories and Apple News Today while driving. Users will be able to sync listening progress across devices: Start listening to an audio story with CarPlay from your iPhone and pick up listening to or reading it later at home.

Curated Local News

Apple also introduced Curated Local News, now available in the Bay Area, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco, featuring a variety of content from a diverse collection of local publishers, including a major newspaper in each city and region.

Local news collections in Apple News include coverage of topics most important to local communities, such as sports, dining and restaurants, weather, news and politics, and more, with curation by local Apple News editors as well as personalization for each user.

Apple
Curated Local News: SF Bay Area

Even more local news

Alongside Curated Local News, Apple recently added even more local and regional newspapers to the Apple News+ catalog.

In the US: Apple News+ now includes access to The Charlotte Observer, the Idaho Statesman, The Kansas City Star, the Miami Herald, The News & Observer, and The State (Columbia, South Carolina).

In Canada: Leading French-language newspaper Le Devoir is now available to Apple News+ subscribers, and The Globe and Mail, one of the country’s most prestigious national newspapers, will be available to subscribers later this summer.

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Jaeden

Senior writer for Apple TLD

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