Every day we are literally bombarded with information that, more often than not, we don’t have the time to follow. There are so many media services and, often, we tend not to be able to filter the news, being overwhelmed by inaccurate news, badly described or that, to be honest, do not interest us at all. It happens to all of us that we don’t have enough time to get informed in the right way, either because we spend many hours at work or studying for exams.
There are many ways to help us stay informed without being overwhelmed by the flood of news and, at the same time, maintaining a certain filter of importance on what really interests us.
In addition to the classic news at lunchtime, there is another tool that you can’t forget and that, in recent times, has become the mainstay of daily information: the smartphone. To make sure you receive only the most relevant information to your interests, filtered by reliable sources and written in a trustworthy way, you have to rely on the best apps in circulation that distribute information.
The importance of news
Every day, in Italy alone, hundreds of thousands of articles are published online dedicated to the most disparate topics, from politics to economics, passing through gossip and sports. To ensure that we receive only the information we are really interested in, so as to save us time, we can turn to news applications that can be installed on your smartphone. Be careful to choose reputable and reliable websites to save time and avoid getting stranded in fake news.
In this article you’ll find some of the news apps you can download to get the most out of the minutes you spend every day on information and general culture. There are many apps out there, and not all of them can satisfy your thirst for news. Here are a few tips for finding your way through the jungle of modern information, always arriving ready and… on track for every conversation about current events.
App for the news of the day: Google News
There are many apps that report news and allow you to filter them as you see fit. Staying informed about what’s going on outside our window, locally or globally, is very important to stay prepared on current topics, and helps us feel part of a large interconnected whole. After all, what happens in the Middle East can always come to affect Italy, and our lives, directly or indirectly.
Among the best apps for daily news we certainly recommend Google News, installable on Android and iOS (Apple). This app was developed by Google and is perhaps the most widely used in Italy. In addition to being pre-installed on many mobile devices, it’s lightweight and easy to use thanks to a simple and intuitive graphic interface.
The app connects to your Google account, which means that if you have a Gmail address you’ll receive some notifications based on the app’s configurations, if you want via email, so you can stay up-to-date on the information that really matters. In addition to being a completely free app, Google News lets you select the categories of interest that you want to stay updated on. It also takes into account your searches and general preferences to provide you with a feed of information related to what you’re looking for. If you like to read and look for book reviews online, for example, Google News is more likely to populate with information pertaining to literature or authors you like. Being a free app, however, Google News contains ads and advertisements.
You can install Google News on your device by going to the Play Store or the iOS App Store and typing the app’s name into the search engine. Then you can click “Install” or “Get” or maybe “Update” if you need to in order to launch the app once it finishes installing.
You’ll need to log in to your Google account by entering your valid Gmail address. Once logged in, you’ll be provided with a press review designed especially for you and what you usually look for in the news, so you won’t miss a beat, You can also enter your preferences manually from the information menu. Google News also features a weather info service, so you’re always up to date on the latest changes and can remember your umbrella if necessary!
The top of the app is dedicated to a handful of news items, about 5, that Google deems relevant to your search habits, but you’ll also find many more in various categories. By clicking, you’ll be informed about the source of the information, keeping the focus on what really matters: truthfulness and accuracy.
In your Favorites you’ll find the categories or topics that interest you and that you’ve previously selected, and that you can modify at any time to have a very accurate set of news that adheres to your needs.
Microsoft News (Microsoft News)
Available for free for both iPhone and Android, Microsoft News is a free app with ads and is, according to public opinion (and the total number of in-store downloads) one of the best apps for getting real-time news from very, very reliable sources – namely the major recognized Italian newspapers.
What’s the difference with Google News? Microsoft Notizie is much more configurable than Google News, right from the first page, and it also comes with widgets to bring the main news directly to the Home of your smartphone or tablet.
Once you’ve installed the app, you can sign in with your Microsoft account, or stay logged in and receive all the relevant services without logging in. The first setup will help you select the topics you’re really interested in, helping you sort them by relevance, popularity, and personal tastes.
Press the star icon, at the bottom, to change your interests at any time. If you need to search for a particular news item, you can bypass Google and use the app’s internal search engine directly. If you turn on GPS, for example, you’ll also find a lot of local information, so you’ll always be informed about what’s happening around you!
You can also save the news that interests you the most or put it aside to read it later, or maybe share it on social networks to know what your contacts think about it.
News Republic
Available for free for Android and iPhone, News Republic is an app with ads with very attractive graphics and high configuration potential. The news categories are really many, and it’s possible to select in detail what you want to appear on your feed and, even, on your Home widget, so you’ll always receive the most up-to-date information relevant to your interests without having to search through the various sections of the sites, from your browser.
Those who don’t like having too many configurations can turn to News Republic: with its over three thousand sources, from more or less well-known websites, it can help you get down to the nitty-gritty and make an accurate selection of the topics on which you want to stay informed.
The interface is divided on: For You, Video and Sports. You can add more by clicking on the “+” icon, which will allow you an optimal configuration of topics. You’ll also be able to explore the available sources, so you’ll never go wrong.
Feedly
In addition to having support for RSS feeds, Feedly is an app available for Android and iOS that allows for a truly remarkable configuration of the information you can receive. Being free, there are advertisements or in-app purchases. In addition to combining several sources, Feedly allows you to browse the news with its quick-read system based on finger gestures. You can add categories to your feed to keep up to date with the topics that interest you.
Other News Apps
You’d be amazed at how many apps there are for grabbing information from the web quickly and without having to comb through newspaper websites. We also list Press Review (Android), Flipboard (Android and iPhone) and SQUID, other great apps to stay informed. Which one is the best? They are all very good, to tell the truth, and allow various degrees of customization to get only filtered news and fitting with our interests. The difference lies in the graphical interface: which one do you like best? Which is the notification system that best respects your vital space and, above all, is able to send you information about what you’re really interested in?
We recommend you install at least a couple of them, to start with, and change the one you’re less convinced of with another from the list, so you’ll find the one that suits you best within a few weeks of experimentation.
And what about soccer?
If you’re looking for information about sports and soccer, we recommend you try specialized apps for this purpose. Try Onefootball (Android and iPhone), Sky Sport or 90Min, or the Gazzetta dello Sport App. They are all free apps, and therefore contain ads or in-app purchases. However, they are easy to use and set up.