Apple News Glossary
Apple News
Apple News is a free news aggregator that’s pre-installed on all Apple devices. It’s available in the UK, US, Canada and Australia.
Stories from publishers are presented in ‘Channels’. But readers are more likely to discover stories in a range of different feeds where all manner of publications sit side by side. It features a wide range of leading publications with a focus on high-quality journalism and credible publishing practices.
Apple News+
Apple News+ is the subscription-based portion of the app where readers can discover premium content that’s typically hidden behind a paywall, as well as print magazines converted for the app which are presented as ‘issues’. A publication can choose to deliver every single page from their print title (which can even include print advertisements) or can choose to deliver a number of stories. These stories are presented side by side within an issue, or individually if the reader finds an article by interest or recommendation within the app.
My Sports
The My Sports tab in Apple News gives readers a personalised feed of content depending on their favourite sports, teams and tournaments. This part of the app gives sports publishers a dedicated ecosystem to reach new audiences. Ever since Apple introduced this new area of the app in late-2022, sports publications have seen up to 50% more unique views.
Today
Today is the main feed readers see when they open Apple News. It contains a combination of Top Stories hand-picked by a team of editors, Trending Stories, and personalised feeds based on Followed publications and selected Topic Groups.
Top Stories
Top Stories is a selection of current affairs stories chosen by Apple News editors. A new selection appears every day and is often updated throughout the day, particularly on busy news days. The stories are often international. Top Stories appear at the top of the Today feed.
For You
The For You section is curated by the Apple News algorithm and is unique to the reader. It appears on the Today feed between editorially curated sections and topic feeds. For You makes its article recommendations according to the reader’s search history in Apple News, their Siri search history, the publications followed by a person and the person’s read articles.
More For You
More For You is identical in every way to For You – it only appears with a different name if a user scrolls far enough through the Today Feed that they pass the first For You section. Every subsequent For You section is called More For You.
Trending Stories
To present the top six Trending Stories, an algorithm pulls from stories that are being shared and engaged with on social networks and the internet in a broad sense, as well as topics that are searched for and engaged with via Siri. From those results, it surfaces to editors a selection from trusted publications – that is, publications whose authority on the topic is strong within Apple News. The Apple News editors then select six of these stories to present in this section.
Topic Feeds
Topic Feeds appear in the Today channel, interspersed among Top Stories, Trending Stories, For You, and the rest of Today’s regular sections. Topic Feeds are small groups of stories related to reader interests such as Technology, Sport, Entertainment and more. What topics appear for each reader is decided by an Apple algorithm according to reader search history, Siri search history, the publications followed by the reader and the reader’s in-app history.
Dark Social
Dark social media, often abbreviated to dark social, are social shares that do not contain any referral information describing their source. Most often, dark social shares are the result of people sharing links through email, text messages and private chats on platforms such as WhatsApp. The word ‘dark’ is used because these mediums are not public.
Workbench
Workbench is an Apple tool for managing ad campaigns on Apple News. You can find out more about this here.
Recirculation area
This is the space below each article that contains links to further stories from the publication and further, often related stories from other publications. This is part of the Apple News UI, controlled by Apple. We wrote an article detailing how you can leverage recirculation for growth.
Special Coverage
Special Coverage gives readers a selection of feeds curated by Apple News Editors. Readers will see coverage of the biggest global stories and the most urgent current affairs.
Next steps...
No matter what stage you're at in your discovery of Apple News, we'll help you get the information you need to make the right decision for your media business.
- Are you an existing Apple News publisher?
Our expert team can audit your existing Apple News channel to ensure your integration is stable, determine how optimised your channel is, and provide recommendations that will help you make the most of your setup. Book a free audit now. - Looking to integrate Apple News with your media business?
Leading publishers use FlatPlan to grow their media business by leveraging the power of Apple News. With help from reader engagement tools, we help publishers reach new readers, nurture them into loyal followers and then funnel them to first-party data strategies on owned properties. Book a free consultation now. - Still learning about Apple News?
We're always providing insider knowledge and expert advice to our network of publishers. If you want to access that same material, head over to our Article pages, download our free Guide to Apple News eBook or subscribe to our monthly newsletter. - Know someone who might find this article useful? Share it via email, LinkedIn, Twitter or any other social network you use.
