Apple has released an Apple News Format Reference in the iOS Developer Library that provides developers with technical details on how to prepare for the upcoming release of Apple News Format, which allows news publishers to create customized layouts with iOS fonts, rich photo galleries, videos and animations optimized for iPhone and iPad.
Apple News Format will allow for all news publishers to have customized layouts with rich graphics and other content, rather than basic articles being pulled straight from an RSS feed, as initial selected partners have had since iOS 9 was released. Apple has shared a direct download of example articles as a guideline.
Apple has also released an Apple News API Reference that explains how publishers can use the Apple News API to integrate Apple News with their existing content management system to access a rich suite of tools for measuring user engagement with published content. Apple also updated its News Publishing Guide with new Delivering Content and Managing Content sections.
Apple News Format is still listed as "coming soon" on Apple's website.
(Thanks, Eric!)
Top Rated Comments
nt5672 does have a legitimate concern. News organizations are slanted. What is to prevent Apple from excluding articles that are critical of it?
The best news app would give you control according to your views on everything you could think of. I don't want to see any articles from people who are pro-abortion, anti-hunting or writing about rap music, for instance.
I look forward to someone catering to our needs, though I doubt it will be Apple; Tim Cook has turned Apple into his own political party.
RSS feeds are visually insipid, something existing news apps sought to improve. The best, by far, was Zite. Its layout/UI resembled a casual magazine. Unfortunately, Flipbook acquired Zite and is shuttering it. Flipbook, in comparison, is a tacky kaleidoscope of content and bloated UI. Browsing it is a chore.