A few months back, I had a realization: I wasn't paying enough attention to current events.
Sure, I work in the news business. I watch the news scroll past on Twitter all day long, and there are TVs tuned to news channels in my newsroom. Sometimes, I can hear my colleagues literally reporting the news around me.
But that news overload didn't make me more informed, it just made me want to tune it all out. And at a time when there's a wild new headline almost every day, this is not the time to stop paying attention.
To solve this problem, I turned to technology. I needed to make the news both unavoidable and digestible, giving me the option to skim the headlines or dive deeper. That solution presented itself in the form of a widget on my iPhone that appears when I swipe right on my home screen.
I started with Apple's News widget, but then I switched to Google's when it redesigned Google News in May.
After using both Apple News and Google News the course of several months, I've noticed the strengths and weaknesses of both — along with a clear winner:
Since my gateway into both apps has been the iPhone widget, let's start there.
At a glance, these widgets look nearly identical, but there are a few key differences to note.
The first is the subtle design differences. Google News keeps it simple: it supplies you with just four of the top stories, and they're not categorized. There's a button on the bottom that says, "More Stories For You," which is the easiest way to get into the app itself.
Apple News, on the other hand, offers you more headlines and separates them by "Top Stories," "Trending," and "Top Videos." It's not clear what the difference is between top stories and trending stories, and unlike Google News, there's no easy way to get into the Apple News app without clicking on a story. I hated this about the app, since it meant one extra click to get inside.
But from a content standpoint, both app widgets left a little to be desired.
On Google News, the mix of stories it gave me wasn't very broad — two entertainment stories, one celebrity news story, and one tech story. Granted, this is where my interests lie, and Google probably knows this thanks to my desktop browsing habits using Google Chrome. Still, a little diversity would have been nice.
At first glance, Apple News seemed to offer a better mix of stories from more diverse sources. Except when you look a little closer, every single headline but one contains the word "Trump." I don't know if that's more on Apple's design, or the reality of our current politics, but it was a bit much.
Once inside, the Google News app is clean, simple, and personalized.
One thing I love about using the Google News app is the personalization at the top. It doesn't overdo it by giving me too much information — I don't need my calendar or email here, for instance — but having my name up top and the local weather report is a nice touch (if you click on that icon, a pop-up 10-day forecast will appear).
As you scroll down, you'll see the top five stories. Google says those stories have been organized for you and are a mix of the top headlines, local news in your area, and news from topics you've said you're interested in.
On Tuesday, my top five reflected that well. It included a story about trade, breaking news that Ivanka Trump had shut down her fashion brand, a story about a new restaurant trend in New York City, a tech news story about MacBooks, and an entertainment story about something that happened on late-night TV.
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