This article was updated and checked for accuracy in September 2023. It was originally published in 2014.
The internet has revolutionized the way we consume news, liberating us from the editorial influence of TV producers or newspaper editors. Today, we have the freedom to navigate the vast web in search of news that aligns with our interests. In this multitude of news websites available, keeping track of them all can be challenging. In this list, we will explore the top news apps for Android, offering organization, staying informed, and finding news tailored to your preferences. Notably, we prioritize unbiased and crowd-sourced news sources over politically inclined networks like CNN or Fox News, ensuring factually accurate information. Here are the finest news apps for Android.
We’d also like to give an honorable mention to Google’s official app. The discover feed keeps track of stuff you like and slowly caters itself to your sensibilities over time. It’s quick, easy, and free. You can also get a similar feed in Google Chrome’s mobile app.
The best news apps for Android
AP News
Price: Free with ads
AP News is a reasonably decent news app for Android. It sources its news from itself along with hundreds of sources both local and nationwide. The user interface is clean and you can find news on a variety of topics, including sports, entertainment, travel, technology, and more. It’s not the best for politics, but it’s better than most. The app is entirely free with ads. The ads are a bit annoying, but it’s nothing too serious.
Feedly
Price: Free / Pro $6 per month / Pro+ $8.25 per month
Feedly is one of the most popular news apps out there. It’s an RSS reader. That means you can pull from a variety of sites and sources. The goal is to build your own news network from places that you trust. It comes with integration with Facebook, IFTTT, Twitter, Evernote, OneNote, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and others. Additionally, you can access your feed on your mobile phone or on your computer with their website. It’s a rock-solid option with over 40 million feeds in total. The only downside is the advertising. It’s a little heavy unless you pay the subscription price.
Price: Free
Flipboard is another one of the more popular news apps. It works a lot like Feedly. You can create a custom feed with your favorite news sources, sites, and other places. Flipboard differs from Feedly by being a little more flashy. It includes fun animations, large images, and a user interface that gives it the appearance of a digital magazine. It also has additional features for things like discovery. It’s also completely free.
NewsBreak
Price: Free
Umme Aimon Shabbir / Android Authority
The News Break app helps you to access the latest and most relevant news stories. It offers a personalized newsfeed, and delivers tailored updates on topics you care about. It has a user-friendly interface which makes it easy to browse articles, videos, and local news, keeping you informed and connected. News Break also provides real-time notifications, ensuring you never miss breaking news. This comprehensive news app is your go-to source for staying up-to-date with the world’s events.
Microsoft Start
Price: Free
Microsoft News is a surprisingly decent news app for Android. It works like most, though. You open the app, select the topics you care about, and receive a feed with news curated by Microsoft employees. The service syncs between the app and the web automatically for cross-platform support. You also get a dark theme, the ability to save articles for later, and you get a good mixture of both left and right-leaning political news sites. There is truly a lot of news here if you want to read it.
Price: Free / $4.99 per month / $44.99 per year
Joe Hindy / Android Authority
Pocket is one of the more unique news apps. It doesn’t offer content. However, it will save whatever content you happen to stumble across during your day. You’ll no doubt find something on Twitter or Facebook or in a chat that you can’t read right now. You can stuff that into Pocket and then come back to read it later. It has offline support, a decent reading experience, and some discovery features as well. Power users can sign up for a subscription. It offers unlimited storage, a tag system to help stay organized, text-to-speech article reading, and additional features for PC.
Podcast Addict
Price: Free
Podcast Addict is a good all-in-one solution for news apps. It is a combination of an RSS reader and a podcast app. It boasts a collection of 450,000 podcasts. Additionally, you can subscribe to almost any news source that you like. The app supports podcast playlists, categorically organized news feeds, Chromecast support, and even support for YouTube and Twitch channels. There are better podcast apps (Castbox, Pocket Casts, Doggcatcher, etc) and there are better RSS apps (Feedly and Flipboard). However, nothing does a combination of the two better than this one.
Price: Free / $5.99 per month / $49.99 per year
Reddit bills itself as the front page of the Internet. That’s at least mostly true. Most trending news items end up somewhere on Reddit. You can subscribe to subreddits that let you see various interests. You can find a subreddit for virtually anything from fashion to tech, Android to iOS, and everything between. The official app is good enough at its job. It doesn’t have many power-user features. However, it nails the basic experience very well. Overall, it’s one of the better news apps and communities. The optional monthly subscription adds a few additional features and removes ads.
SmartNews
Price: Free
SmartNews is one of the newer news apps. It works like a lot of its competitors like News Republic, News360, and other newsreaders. It basically looks at a ton of news sources and recommends top trending topics. The good part is that you get the news that everyone is talking about. The bad news is that it isn’t as configurable as we would like. Additionally, it leans on opinion blogs rather than news sites for a lot of topics and we didn’t like that at all. It’s good for some stuff, bad for others. However, that’s about as good as it gets for news sites these days.
Price: Free
Twitter is arguably the best social media platform for news. It’s one of only a few platforms that still show posts in chronological order. Thus, it’ll show you what’s happening right now. It has hashtags, trending topics, and some other discovery features. You simply follow the sources you like. Your feed will then show their latest posts. Twitter harbors a mix of users, including less-than-ideal individuals, along with numerous provocative blogs and posters aiming to stoke anger. Misinformation also runs rampant. Nonetheless, for those adept at discerning credible sources and sifting through the noise, Twitter can serve as a useful newsreader. By following trusted news outlets and reading between the lines, it becomes a valuable platform for staying informed.
Your local news apps
Price: Free (usually)
Your local news apps are usually not half bad. They focus more on things happening around your community. Most people focus on the worldwide news and in doing so lose track of what’s happening in their own cities. Generally, these apps are simple. They just show the news and sometimes even the weather. On top of TV stations, many cities will have local newspapers with apps as well. For instance, the Columbus Dispatch has its own app. Sometimes these apps are great. Sometimes they’re not.
Bonus: Android Authority app
Price: Free
Here comes a little shameless self-promotion! We do have an official app. It’s also a pretty nice app if we do say so ourselves. It’s a good place to check out the latest tech news around the world of Android. That includes reviews, news, best lists, op-eds, and whatever else our team happens to cook up. The interface uses Material Design. In addition, it links to our podcast, our YouTube channel, and more. It’s free to use with no in-app purchases.
If we missed any of the best news apps for Android, tell us about them in the comments.