Category Archives: Blog

Clubhouse’s leaked text messaging feature has finally officially arrived. Called Backchannel, the new messaging system allows users to talk to each other via the written word, just like in practically every other social media app that came before it. Tech is a circle.

The audio-based app announced its new feature in a blog post on Wednesday. Backchannel allows users to talk to each other through text outside Clubhouse’s audio rooms, as well as during them.

To start a Backchannel chat, simply tap the paper airplane icon on the bottom right of the app. From there, tap the pen and paper icon on the top right corner to search for the person you want to chat with. Alternatively, the icon also appears to the left of the follow button on users’ profiles. You can also swipe left in a Clubhouse room to access the Backchannel.

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While the app’s big selling point is that conversations are audible rather than written, having the ability to text other users will certainly make organising rooms a bit easier. Users can message their co-hosts to plan what to talk about next, as well as receive questions from the audience. Meanwhile, listeners can discuss the conversation with each other while it’s still happening, and without interrupting the hosts.

Backchannel’s supports both one on one conversations as well as bigger group chats of up to 15 members. Not just anybody can jump into a chat though — only the moderator can add or remove people (though you can voluntarily remove yourself at any time). You’ll also be warned if you’re added to a group that includes someone you’ve blocked, so you can promptly exit.

Anyone can message you by default, though messages from people you don’t follow are placed under a separate Requests tab. Fortunately you can change your settings so you only receive messages from the people you follow. You can also report chats as well as specific messages.

Backchannel is still missing a few features. It currently doesn’t support sending photos or videos, there are no message reactions, and you can’t start an audio Clubhouse room directly from Backchannel. You also can’t delete Backchannel chats, though the app plans to add this ability in the future.

Even so, Backchannel’s text message will certainly make coordinating a Clubhouse room a little bit easier — for all who are actually still using the app.

Remember when Ashton Kutcher bought a seat on a flight to space? Well, he sold his golden ticket.

During AT&T’s 5G event in New York City on Wednesday, Mashable sat down with the actor and tech investor. We asked him if he was booked on a flight to space and could bring anyone but his wife, who would he choose?

Kutcher reminded us he had already booked a flight to space. Back in 2012, billionaire Richard Branson said Kutcher snagged the 500th ticket for a flight on Virgin Galactic, which were originally selling for $200,000. But apparently Kutcher sold it.

“I was booked on a flight to go to space and, in fact, I’m quite rueful about the fact that I am not going to space,” Kutcher said, “My wife asked me to sell my ticket to space because she didn’t think that it was a smart family decision.”

According to Space.com, Virgin Galactic officials originally said they were hoping for takeoff in 2013 or 2014. The first fully crewed flight, however, just happened this week.

Among said crew was Virgin Galactic’s very own founder, billionaire Sir Richard Branson, who launched into space aboard SpaceShipTwo on Sunday and safely returned the same day.

A lot happened for Kutcher between 2012 (when he bought the ticket) and 2021. In 2015, he married actress Mila Kunis. They now have two children.

Considering a Virgin Galactic spacecraft crashed in October of 2014 — tragically killing a pilot — along with another failed test flight last year, it’s safe to say Kunis’ concerns were extremely valid. However, with Branson successfully returning from his Virgin Galactic ride and Elon Musk preparing for his own, it’s safe to assume Kutcher might be feeling a lil’ bit of FOMO.

Regardless, he remains hopeful.

“I’m no longer booked on a flight to space, [but] someday I’m going to space,” he said.

You might’ve heard of Clubhouse by now. It might still be unlikely that you’ve actually joined Clubhouse.

That’s because the new social media platform has built its reputation, in part, on exclusivity. Well, exclusivity and being the audio-only app where people spend countless hours mostly networking and plugging their own projects. It has also been been copied (or working on being copied) by other social media companies after its hyped success.

However you still have to secure an invite from a current user to get in to Clubhouse, although that may eventually change. Here’s what you need know about Clubhouse in case you soon find yourself using it.

What is Clubhouse?

In short: Clubhouse is an audio-based social media app. The company describes itself as “a new type of social product based on voice [that] allows people everywhere to talk, tell stories, develop ideas, deepen friendships, and meet interesting new people around the world.”

Basically, you can jump in and out of different chats, on different subjects, in something akin to a live, free-flowing podcast. You can simply listen or choose to throw in your thoughts. In theory, it’s supposed to be something like a cocktail party or…clubhouse. In practice, it’s some mixture of LinkedIn, a panel discussion, or a professional conference.

Vogue described the app’s experience as “a dizzying bringing together of live podcast-style conversations, panel discussions, networking opportunities (some savvy people are already swapping ‘influencer’ for ‘moderator’) and advantageous multiple-room use (locked and private options are available so you can talk to pals too), the social-media app mimics real-life interactions.”

The audio itself, however, doesn’t leave the app. That’s the main rule: There’s no recording of conversations and they’re not saved.

Who uses Clubhouse?

Clubhouse is big with celebrities. Float around the app and you might hear folks like Oprah, Kevin Hart, Drake, Chris Rock, or Ashton Kutcher. They might even host chats. In some ways, that’s part of Clubhouse’s appeal. You get the chance to hear, and even participate in, unvarnished conversations with famous and powerful people. Refinery29 described networking as the primary reason for Clubhouse’s rising popularity. Indeed, spend enough time on the app and you’re bound to hear folks not-so-casually slipping their accomplishments and goals into conversation.

Other than celebrities, the app is seemingly focused on people it considers an elite clientele. It became a status symbol of sorts for Silicon Valley types after its launch last year. The whole invite-only thing was apparently taken pretty seriously. But it’s now growing. Taylor Lorenz for the New York Times reported in December that it had 600,000 registered users and has been courting influencers.

Its downloads have slowed recently but Clubhouse is attempting to roll out new features that’ll keep folks interest. Most recently it announced that it would debut audio-only Ted Talks on the platform.

Who made it?

Paul Davison and Rohan Seth found the app last year. By May, it was valued at around $100 million despite have just 1,500 users at the time, according to CNBC. Its most recent round of funding reportedly valued it at $4 billion.

What’s the controversy with Clubhouse?

Clubhouse already has abuse and content moderation — or lack thereof — problems. As the Times noted, there have been numerous complaints that Clubhouse hasn’t done much to protect folks from abuse.

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The Verge wrote back in July that the app didn’t seem to have a plan for moderating content. Things haven’t seemed to get much better. Vanity Fair wrote a piece in December detailing out the ephemeral, audio-only nature of Clubhouse allowed the app to “become a haven for the powerful to flirt with misogyny and racism.” The responded to Vanity Fair saying it “unequivocally condemns all forms of racism, hate speech, and abuse, as noted in our Community Guidelines and Terms of Service, and has trust and safety procedures in place to investigate and address any violation of these rules.”

How do you get an invite to Clubhouse?

Right now, you still cannot join Clubhouse without an invite. You can download the app and reserve a username, if that sort of thing interests you. It was once available only for iPhone users but it is available on Android now.

But the app apparently plans to expand to the general public at some point. It says it hasn’t done that yet for two reasons: It wants to build community slowly and it wants to prepare features that will help it handle larger numbers of people.

“We are building Clubhouse for everyone and working to make it available to the world as quickly as possible,” the app’s site reads.

How do you delete Clubhouse?

So, what happens if find you nab an invite to Clubhouse but then want to get rid of it? After all, the app isn’t everybody’s cup of tea.

Mashable’s Jack Morse wrote a detailed piece on deleting Clubhouse — and the app’s data policies — but it’s safe to say getting rid of your account is not a simple process.

There is no option or button to delete your Clubhouse account within the app. You have to contact Clubhouse directly and ask them to delete your data.

“Please log in to your account or contact us (at support@alphaexplorationco.com) if you need to change or correct your Personal Data, or if you wish to delete your account,” the app’s privacy policy reads.

From there, it’s not clear how quickly Clubhouse will follow up on your request.

So, yes, it may be hard to get into Clubhouse, but it might be just as hard to leave.

This story was originally published in January 2021 and updated in July 2021.

The misinformation, the scams, the data privacy issues, the refusal to make a decision on whether a former President of the United States should or shouldn’t be allowed back on its platform.

Despite the myriad of issues, however, Mark Zuckerberg’s social networking giant is now a $1 trillion company. And, of course, all of that was made off the backs of users’ data…people just like you.

So, you have had it with Facebook and you finally decided to delete your Facebook account. You’ve been spending more time on Instagram now anyway, right?

One problem, if you don’t already know: Facebook owns Instagram.

And while those platforms might have felt different enough before, Instagram is increasingly experiencing the same kinds of problems — coronavirus disinfo, a role in the foreign influence on elections, scams — found on Facebook.

If you’re ready to tap out of Facebook altogether, it might be time to say goodbye to your Instagram account, too.

So, you ready? OK, here’s how to delete Instagram from your life forever.

You can’t delete from Instagram app

First things first: If you’re looking for a delete button somewhere in the menus on your Instagram mobile app (you know, the thing most people use to surf and post on Instagram), you can stop. You cannot delete your Instagram account via the mobile app.

You can only delete your account by logging into Instagram from your desktop or mobile browser.

Download your Instagram data first

But before we get to deleting your account, you may want to download your data to your own personal computer hard drive first.

To do that, log in to your account via the web browser and click “Settings” (the gears icon) on your profile page. Click the “Privacy & Security” option on the pop-up menu, then click on “Request Download” under Data Download.

Type in your email address and hit the “next” button. Instagram will email you a downloadable file with all your data within 48 hours.

Got your data? Good. Now, to delete your account.

Delete your Instagram account

Log in to Instagram and click this link to go to the Instagram account deletion page. Are you deleting your account because of data concerns? Privacy issues? Let Instagram know via the options in the drop-down menu.

After that, you’ll be presented with a password input. Just type out your Instagram password and click “permanently delete my account.”

Remember! Your account, along with all your photos and data, will be deleted from the platform for good. You will not be able to register a new account with that same username, so make sure you really want to delete your account before hitting that button.

And … that’s it. You are now free from yet another Mark Zuckerberg-run social media platform. Congratulations!

This story was originally published in December 2020 and updated in July 2021.

Everyone knows that The Office had a phenomenal main cast, but never forget that the series featured a number of truly impressive guest stars as well.

One of those guest stars was Rich Sommer, who played Pam’s art school friend, Alex, in two Season 5 episodes of the show. You may know Sommer as Harry Crane on Mad Men, too. And he’s also the latest guest on the Office Ladies podcast.

Sommer spoke with Office Ladies co-hosts Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey about Mad Men, the “Business Trip” episode of The Office, how he got hired on the workplace comedy, and more.

How Rich got into art school on The Office

Fischer and Kinsey love asking podcast guests how they first started working on the show, and Sommer had a particularly interesting casting story. He got the part of Alex thanks to writer and actor Mindy Kaling.

“To my recollection Mindy and I met at the SAG Awards when you guys and the Mad Men cast were nominated,” Sommer explained. “Mindy was a fan of Mad Men and came up to me, and I was so excited to meet her… but she came up to me and said, ‘Hey I’m writing a part with you in mind on the show. Would that be OK?’ And I was like, ‘Yes!’ because, you know, like everyone else, The Office was one of my favorite shows on TV…”

Sommer explained that someone from The Office reached out and offered him the role of Alex after they’d written the part, and he accepted immediately. He also revealed that he’d auditioned for the show once or twice before, but didn’t get those roles. Thankfully, it all worked out in the end.

Strictly friends or something more?

In their quest to determine whether or not Alex was meant to be a full-on love interest for Pam or really just a friend from art school, the co-hosts asked Sommer how the role was pitched to him.

“Well, this is the meaty part of the conversation I suppose,” he said. “The way it was pitched to me was… ‘We think this is a character who’s going to be [here] throughout this season. We think it’s a character that’s gonna be kind of like Rashida’s character, where it might be another road bump for Jim and Pam.'”

Aha! Jim knew it.

“So when it started that was definitely what was in my mind. But we filmed scenes that didn’t make it into the show, and I started to kind of put it together that the response from the audience,” Sommer continued. “They were not pleased. And who could blame them after what they’d been through for four seasons?”

Several riskier Pam and Alex storylines wound up getting cut from final edits but live on today in deleted scenes reels. Ultimately, Sommer feels Alex’s storyline was “aborted,” but he totally gets why and agreed that him coming between Jim and Pam would have been “too much.”

“I remain delighted that I had the parts that I had,” Sommer reflected. “How I feel about it is that it’s a very funny interesting way to have been part of The Office legacy.”

Filming wasn’t all laughs

Though The Office is a delightful comedy, it turns out filming wasn’t all laughs for Sommer.

One of the episodes that Alex was in, “Customer Survey,” was directed by Stephen Merchant, the genius who co-created the original British version of The Office with Ricky Gervais. Needless to say, there was some added pressure on set.

“Did you crap your pants when you found out Stephen Merchant was directing?” Fischer asked.

“Yes. It was upsetting,” Sommer laughed.

Sommer then revealed that he had “a mole” on the set of The Office who sent him an original version of the “Customer Survey” script, in which his character Alex professed his love to Pam.

The lines were obviously changed later on, but Sommer wasn’t able to shake the original Alex vibe, and it ended up messing with his head during shooting.

“I couldn’t get it out of my head because everything we’d been playing is that Alex had crush on Pam,” Sommer said. “…In the moment I couldn’t find the right level of demonstrative that Stephen wanted. And the level that Stephen wanted was zero, and the level that I was continually pumping out was more in the neighborhood of like 75 percent demonstrative.”

“I couldn’t reel it in, and in fact, Jenna, to your question of pooping my pants when I found out it was Stephen Merchant, that was just a little jitter compared to how I felt when Stephen came up to me after a take and said these words, the words that have haunted me as an actor forever,” he continued.

“[Merchant] came up to me and said: ‘I don’t know why you’re not getting this,” Sommer explained. “It was awful. He was, by the way, 100 percent right. I just couldn’t do it. So looking at Jenna Fischer standing across from me, John Krasinski is crumpled up into a ball under a table in that room reading his lines for the Bluetooth…and I’m just like mortified. Like, ‘This is it! I’m never acting again, obviously!'”

Though Sommer may have had a stressful day on set, Fischer and Kinsey stressed how much the cast loved him and his performance. And he lived to act again, and again, and again. A happy ending!

Be sure to listen to the full podcast episode for more behind-the-scenes stories about Rich Sommer, the friendships between The Office and Mad Men casts, and the “Business Trip” episode.

You can stream episodes of The Office on Peacock and follow along with the podcast every week on Earwolf, Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher.

What would social media be like without content creators?

Facebook knows all too well how important the people publishing their videos online are to its social network, which is why it’s just announced new programs that will pay out $1 billion in total to creators.

“We want to build the best platforms for millions of creators to make a living, so we’re creating new programs to invest over $1 billion to reward creators for great content they create on Facebook and Instagram through 2022,” wrote founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a public post on his Facebook profile.

Facebook’s new creator programs

Creators who publish on Facebook and are invited to join the new program will be able to earn a bonus on top of their regular ad revenue share over the next four months for using in-stream ads. In-stream ads are short advertisements Facebook inserts into video content.

Gaming creators on Facebook can also earn a bonus via its Stars Challenges program. Stars are basically Facebook’s version of YouTube’s Super Chats or Twitch’s Bits. The program allows livestreamers to monetize their streams via direct donations from their fans and followers. Over the next three months, Facebook will provide a financial bonus to creators who hit certain Stars milestones.

According to the New York Times, these creator programs are currently invite-only. However, as Times reporter Taylor Lorenz notes, invite-only doesn’t mean that the program is just for VIPs with huge followings. The company will invite smaller creators to take part in these new programs too.

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​​Dennis Segstad, a tech startup founder with just over 13,000 Instagram followers, shared screenshots on Twitter of his invitation from the company to use its new “badges” feature on Instagram, which is owned by Facebook.

Instagram Badges allows followers to purchase “badges” to show off their support for the creator in the comments section when the creator livestreams. The company has also included a milestone program, which rewards creators with financial bonuses for hitting certain goals.

For example, Segstad shared a screenshot of a $100 bonus offered by the company which he could receive by just going live once on Instagram sometime in the next week for 15 minutes.

CNN reporter Kerry Flynn shared other creator programs Facebook is rolling out on Instagram, such as IGTV ads bonuses, which will program provide a financial incentive for invited creators to simply sign up for IGTV, an app by Instagram for long videos. Once on that platform, Instagram can run ads on a creator’s video content, which will also earn them a share of the ad revenue.

And finally, Reels Summer bonus is the last newly announced creators program from Facebook. It will pay creators who post content on Instagram Reels based on how their reels perform.

It’s been done before

“Investing in creators isn’t new for us, but I’m excited to expand this work over time,” Zuckerberg continued.

Investing $1 billion into creators specifically is not new for the company, either. Back in 2017, as Facebook prepared to compete with YouTube, the company announced it would invest that exact chunk of change into creating and publishing video content.

A little over a year into that program, Mashable spoke to numerous creators who were part of the Facebook partner program. While a select few creators were pulling in six figures on Facebook Watch, most were not finding the same success.

Some creators even found that any boost Facebook received from its $1 billion push of video content pretty much disappeared once the company stopped funding the endeavor. It had simply not established itself as a viable alternative to YouTube.

Facebook has long struggled to compete with the major platforms that have become synonymous with video creators.

Aside from the roll-out of Facebook Watch in 2017, which set out to woo video makers by paying creators to make content for the platform, Facebook has also attempted to bring gaming livestreamers over from YouTube and Twitch. Just this past December, for example, Facebook announced a $10 million fund for Black gaming creators to make content for its platform.

Over on Instagram, the company attempted to compete with popular online video services by launching IGTV. As TikTok blew up in the short-form video space, the company tried to compete there too by incorporating similar features like Instagram Reels. It also released stand-alone apps like Lasso, which was Facebook’s attempt at clone TikTok.

While some attempts have been more successful than others, neither Facebook or Instagram have accomplished the goal of becoming a real alternative to YouTube, Twitch, or TikTok. IGTV and Facebook Watch have both struggled to cement themselves within their own platforms. Facebook shut Lasso down after a little over a year and a half.

As for its latest effort, along with the ones detailed above, Facebook says it will roll out additional bonus programs for creators throughout the year.

This move from Facebook to be taken seriously as a creators platform focuses on incentivizing consistent and prolonged use of Facebook’s platform. Similar creator programs appear to have worked for Snapchat and TikTok.

Will it work for Facebook this time? Or is it just too late for the social network?

Cryptocurrency is rotten to the core.

So argues the co-founder of Dogecoin, Jackson Palmer, in a long Twitter thread published Wednesday which is sure to spark backlash among the crypto faithful. Palmer makes the case that, contrary to utopian promises of decentralized finance and banking the unbanked, crypto as it actually exists in the world merely serves to help the rich get richer.

“After years of studying it, I believe that cryptocurrency is an inherently right-wing, hyper-capitalistic technology built primarily to amplify the wealth of its proponents through a combination of tax avoidance, diminished regulatory oversight and artificially enforced scarcity,” he writes.

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Palmer goes on the argue that cryptocurrency institutions have all the undesirable traits of more traditional financial markets and institutions, but with none of the safeguards.

It’s the worst of both worlds, in other words.

“Financial exploitation undoubtedly existed before cryptocurrency, but cryptocurrency is almost purpose built to make the funnel of profiteering more efficient for those at the top and less safeguarded for the vulnerable,” he continues.

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Indeed, the cryptocurrency ecosystem is notoriously fraud ridden. In 2018, a study found that almost 80 percent of initial coin offerings the previous year were scams. Major exchanges steal from their customers with surprising regularity, and even the big and supposedly reputable players like Coinbase and Binance have struggled to fulfill basic promises.

And that doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of shady pump-and-dump schemes helmed by unscrupulous celebrities.

Palmer points out that even when things are working as they’re supposed to, the world of cryptocurrency isn’t exactly friendly to the mom and pop investor.

“Lose your savings account password? Your fault. Fall victim to a scam? Your fault. Billionaires manipulating markets? They’re geniuses.”

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Palmer used Twitter’s conversation settings feature to prevent people from replying directly to his tweets. That didn’t stop people from quote-tweeting him, however, with many surprised that it took him “years” to reach what they saw as an obvious conclusion.

SEE ALSO: Reddit is selling NFTs, and somehow they’re already worth thousands

But hey, not everything can catch on as quickly as NFTs.

Looking for the next great book to sink your teeth into? Look no further.

If you don’t want to lug around a hardcover in your bag or under your arm, you might want to invest in some e-books. And, thankfully, this is an investment that won’t break the bank. Digital bookworms — you can get in a good read without spending a dime. The internet is filled with free e-book resources so you can download new reads and old classics from the comfort of your smartphone, iPad, or whatever eReader you prefer. If you have a Kindle, there are loads of other places you can download free e-books, specifically made for your device. And, once you’re all set up, you might even be able to share them with friends and family from your Kindle.

Here’s a list of 12 places where you can find a wealth of free e-books (yes, free e-books!).

1. Google eBookstore

In the free section of the Google eBookstore, you’ll find a ton of free books from a variety of genres. Look here for bestsellers, favorite classics, and more, including titles from Ayn Rand and Franz Kafka. Books are available in several formats, and you can also check out ratings and reviews from other users.

2. Project Gutenberg

With a collection of more than 45,000 free e-books, Project Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to create and share e-books online. The selection includes everything from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll to Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. No registration or fee is required, and books are available in ePub, Kindle, HTML, and simple text formats.

3. Open Library

The Open Library has more than one million free e-books available. This library catalog is an open online project of Internet Archive, and allows users to contribute books, which allows for its fascinating selection of everything from Ronald Dahl to John Grisham. You can easily search by the title, author, and subject.

4. Internet Archive

If you’re looking for out-of-print books in different languages and formats, check out this non-profit digital library. The Internet Archive is a great go-to if you want access to historical and academic books, like an electrical engineer’s pocketbook from 1918 and cookbooks from across the world.

5. BookBoon

Searching for a particular educational textbook or business book? BookBoon may have what you’re looking for, from Advanced Communication Skills to An Introduction to Business and Business Planning. The site offers more than 1,000 free e-books, it’s easy to navigate and best of all, you don’t have to register to download them.

6. ManyBooks.net

With more than 29,000 free e-books at your fingertips, you’re bound to find one that interests you here. You have the option to browse by most popular titles, recent reviews, authors, titles, genres, languages, and more to find books written by Agatha Christie and Tamara Grantham. These books are compatible for Kindles, iPads and most e-readers.

7. Free eBooks

From romance to mystery to education, this website is a good source for all sorts of free e-books. When you’re making a selection, you can go through reviews and ratings for each book. If you’re looking for a site wide variety of books in various categories, one that can serve you The Real Law Of Attraction Code, Blockchain Secrets, and Poetry in Spoken Word in the same breath, check out this site.

8. LibriVox

Want to listen to books instead? LibriVox is home to thousands of free audiobooks, including classics, out-of-print books, and historical texts, like all of the State of the Union Addresses by United States Presidents.

9. PDF Books World

Thanks to public domain, you can access PDF versions of all the classics you’ve always wanted to read in PDF Books World’s enormous digital library, from The Great Gatsby by Francis Scott Fitzgerald and The Call Of The Wild by Jack London. Literature, plays, poetry, and non-fiction texts are all available for you to download at your leisure.

10. Feedbooks

Similar to PDF Books World, Feedbooks allows those that sign up for an account to download a multitude of free e-books — from Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad to The Scarlet Plague by Jack London — that have become accessible via public domain, and therefore cost you nothing to access. Just make sure that when you’re on Feedbooks’ site you head to the “Public Domain” tab to avoid its collection of “premium” books only available for purchase.

11. International Digital Children’s Library

If you’re having a hard time finding a good children’s book amidst the many free classics available online, you might want to check out the International Digital Children’s Library. Here, you can find award-winning books that range in length and reading levels, from Aesop’s fables to Tales of passed times by Mother Goose, with morals. There’s also a wide selection of languages available, with everything from English to Farsi.

12. Check your local library

You can get some downloadable e-books through your local library, or an online library like Libby, which requires that you have an actual library card to sign up. The drawbacks are clear: Libraries have a specific number of copies to lend, and if all copies are already checked out, you’ll have to wait your turn. And, like all other books you borrow from the library, you can’t hold onto the e-book forever. But if you want a recently released book, this could be your best bet.

This story was originally published in 2014 and updated in July 2021.

If you want to stay informed on current affairs, you could download every single news app out there. But that would be overwhelming. Instead, make it easier on yourself and find a great news aggregator.

These news apps collect articles from a large pool of sources, and incorporate different types of reporting, so instead of getting stories just from the New York Times or a local news station, you’ll get a good mix.

If you really only want updates from your regional newspaper, go ahead and download that dedicated app. But for news stories from around the world and across topics including entertainment, science, tech, politics, and beyond, find yourself the best news app for you that’s customizable.

If you use notifications you’ll be glad you stuck with just a few news apps to save your entire screen from blowing up with constant “breaking” alerts.

All of these news apps are free to download on Android and Apple devices, although some have premium, paid versions available.

1. Apple News

Apple’s news service keeps iPhone and iPad users fully informed on current affairs. You can browse top headlines or set up notifications based on certain topics or news outlets. So you could get alerted about every politics story, say, if that’s what you really want.

Apple News is also available as a web app for Mac laptop users, but it doesn’t fully sync with the iOS or iPad app versions.

For $9.99 per month you can also subscribe to Apple News+ for access to a bunch of publications (even those with paywalls) and listen to articles narrated as audio stories. That access is across all devices.

A glaring issue with Apple News: Android users are out of luck.

2. Google News

Google News is basically Apple News for Android users, as you might expect. BUT, even iOS devices are compatible with the Google News app. If you’re already relying on headlines from the “News” section on Google Search on desktop you’ll probably fit right in with the search engine’s news app.

Google News is accessible to anyone and is free to use with your Google account.

3. The Week

The Week is an IRL weekly magazine that collects and summarizes news from all over, but its accompanying app can catch you up quickly. If you’re into lists, the app’s daily briefing tab gives you “10 things you need to know today” every day. You can also read some articles on the app without a subscription, but for full digital issues you’ll need to subscribe (50 digital-only issues for $89).

The best experience for The Week is on desktop, but if you’re always on your phone this works just fine.

4. Flipboard

Originally formed as a digital magazine, Flipboard makes news gathering more about topics than individual headlines. It emphasizes community curation to create mini magazine issues customized for you about certain places, categories, or events.

For the dedicated news reader you can customize the app to fit best with your interests and preferred publications.

5. SmartNews

This Japanese-based news aggregator uses machine learning to find top stories for its app. It’s been popular in Japan and the U.S. for many years, with a focus on news from those two countries. Partnerships with select news outlets are also featured on the platform, and there’s a special sections with live coverage, such as for the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Additionally, its local news section is plugged into 6,000 cities across the U.S.

6. News360

This aggregator calls itself a “news reader” with a focus on custom news. It tracks the types of stories you click on to serve up more stories that you’re likely to be interested in. To be sure the computer gets it right you can also manually select topics. But fair warning: The app lists more than 1 million topics to choose from.

7. Yahoo News

Yes, Yahoo still exists. While you may have switched over to Gmail for your email inbox years ago, Yahoo News is still going strong with a robust collection of stories from major news outlets. It’s especially known for breaking news and live events, like the upcoming 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

8. News Break

Instead of surfacing the top stories for a national audience, the News Break app tries to localize news based on cities and metropolitan areas that you care about. So instead of big news from the recent Florida building collapse you can find local news headlines from your city or hometown. The app emerged a few years ago from a former Yahoo executive from China.

You can adjust the number of notifications News Break pings you about, but even the lowest setting can feel like a barrage of daily news.

9. Ground News

With news from around the world and more than 50,000 sources in one place, you’ll maybe be too informed. Ground News has different news products including an app, webpage, browser extension, newsletter, and other news comparison tools based on your subscription level. There’s Free (for, well, free), Pro (for $0.83 cents each month), or Premium (for $2.49 per month).

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Free gets you the most basic, limited access which includes Ground News’ headline comparison tool for up to three sources, 20 custom interests, coverage distribution chart, and device support. Premium has unlimited customization, a blind spot detection feature, unlimited headline comparisons, and an exclusive weekly newsletter.

10. Pocket

Pocket is Mozilla’s bookmarking tool, but the app’s homepage has a “Discover” tab that pulls up popular stories that others are saving to the app. You can also connect your Twitter account (and your iOS and Google contact lists) and see the links that people you follow are linking for a more personalized selection. A premium version of the “read later” app with a permanent library and suggested tags for better organizing is either $4.99 per month or $44.99 for a year.

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This story was originally published in Oct. 2020 and updated in July 2021.

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