Facebook’s standalone news app, Notify, could arrive next week
Facebook’s newest app is apparently on deck. According to the Financial Times, the news-oriented Notify will land on the App Store sometime next week.
As the app name suggests, it’s designed to let users know when a new story arrives from a media outlet. It will show up to 100 characters of text and a URL to the article on the publication’s site.
Some of the big name print, Web, and video companies partnering with Facebook include Vogue, Mashable, CNN, the Washington Post, CBS, Comedy Central Billboard magazine, and others.
An apparent screenshot of the Notify app.
In October, the Awl published a supposed screenshot from the app showing that users can select from a number of stations and providers.
The new app isn’t the first time Facebook formed a partnership with media companies. After a short beta testing period, Facebook recently unveiled its Instant Articles feature to all users of its hugely popular iPhone app. In your News Feed, any article with a lightning bolt in the top right corner is an Instant Article. Facebook says that all stories load 10 times faster than a standard mobile Web article. Instant Articles also offer a more immersive experience for readers.
Curated news experiences seem to be a hot product for a number of tech companies lately. With iOS 9, which officially launched in September, Apple unveiled a News app that grabs content from a number of user-selected sources. And Twitter’s recently introduced Moment function is designed to show tweets and other media regarding a timely topic.
I don’t exactly know if iOS users need yet another news app, especially from Facebook. But I’ll reserve my final judgement until I can actually use Notify.
For other app news and reviews today, see: Evernote gets side-by-side multitasking and support for the iPad Pro, Catch Ruby La Rouge if you can in Agent A: A puzzle in disguise, and Fourth Estate has the news you need for the 2016 election.
