Inside iOS 10: Apple makes News app more accessible & better organized, adds alerts

By David Silverberg

In a clear competitive move to take on rival Google News, Apple will be introducing a new design and organization to its News app in iOS 10, plus the addition of push notifications for breaking news.

The new Apple News design emphasizes individual stories and breaks articles into clear sections, including Top Stories, Trending, and topics based on the user's preference. In a new element, the app will also create new topics based on readers' histories.

Featured stories will also be selected and presented to users, akin to Editor's Picks in Google News. iOS 10 will also introduce subscriptions, allowing users to read entire issues of publications.

Users will also be able to opt in for breaking news alerts via iOS push notifications. News in iOS 10 also adds support for daily news briefings via email.

"We wanted News to be the place where you read all the stories from your favorite publications," Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet software and services, said at the Worldwide Developers Conference keynote on Monday.

Since introducing Apple News last fall, the app has expanded to over 2,000 publications and is read by 60 million monthly readers, according to Cue.

Google News, meanwhile, currently has 4,000 sources, 75,000 publishers and sends publishers 10,000 clicks per month, according to Google spokesperson Maggie Shiels.