Your guide to Apple News+
GET STARTED WITH APPLE’S NEWS SERVICE.
Apple News+ is a subscription service for people who crave a greater variety of content than they get through the free
Apple News app. It’s Apple’s way of letting you get the “good stuff” of journalism—the features are normally locked behind magazine subscriptions or (in a few but notable cases) paywalled daily news sites—without forcing you to plunk down hundreds of dollars in subscription fees. Instead, you’ll just pay a modest price to Apple.
In this guide, you’ll find answers to some of the biggest questions you might have about the service. Learn how to get started, how much it will cost, and how you can get the most out of the service.
WHAT IS APPLE NEWS+?
Apple News+ is a new subscription-based addition to the existing Apple News app for IOS and macos. While the free Apple News app largely emphasizes “straight” news, Apple News+ emphasizes longertailed magazine content, although you’ll also get access to content from sites like The Wall Street Journal and The Los Angeles Times that would normally be behind paywalls.
Some magazines in Apple News+ have
nifty features like animated “live covers” that enhance the magazine-reading experience for the digital age, but a surprising number of magazines on Apple News+ are little more than PDFS.
HOW DO I SIGN UP FOR APPLE NEWS+?
On the iphone/ipad: Make sure you have at least version 12.2 of the operating system installed on your iphone or ipad. You’ll then find the Apple News+ tab along the bottom bar when you open your regular Apple News app. Press on it and you’ll see a splash page with a red button offering a month for free. Press that tab and enter your Apple ID and you’ll be in immediately.
On the Mac: Your Mac needs to be running at least version
10.14.4 of the operating system. Open the News app in your Applications folder. If you have never opened the News app, a pop-up will appear, asking if you want to subscribe to News+. If you don’t see the pop-up, look in the sidebar, and you should find News+ under the Apple News section. Click on it and you’ll see that the main screen switches to the News+ section. See the red button offering a free month of
News+? Click on it, and you’ll have to enter your Apple ID to complete the transaction.
HOW MUCH DOES APPLE NEWS+ COST?
An Apple News+ subscription costs $9.99 per month, although you can try it out for free for a month when you first sign up. Keep in mind, though, that Apple will automatically start charging you once the free month is up. You can cancel before the trial expires.
IF I CANCEL MY FREE TRIAL EARLY, CAN I KEEP USING APPLE NEWS+ UNTIL MY FREE MONTH IS UP?
No. Apple News+ will deny you access to the articles via the app the second you unsubscribe from the service. If you want to get the most out of the trial before making a decision, use Siri to set up a reminder to cancel a day or two before the subscription is set to renew.
HOW DO I SEARCH FOR A SPECIFIC MAGAZINE?
Apple News+ doesn’t have a traditional search bar on the iphone or ipad, although you’ll find a search bar at the top of the sidebar on a Mac. Instead, Apple wants you to browse (think: newsstands). On the iphone and ipad, open the Apple News+ tab and then click on the Browse The Catalog tab along the top and scroll down to the magazine you’d like to read. Alternatively, you can press on the topical tabs to the right of the Browse the Catalog tab, which cover everything from Entertainment to Science & Tech.
There’s an easier way to search for specific magazines, but it’s less intuitive. First, press the Following tab at the bottom of the Apple News interface. (It’s next to the Apple News+ tab.) Then enter the name of the magazine you want to find in the Channels, Topics, And Stories search bar that appears at the top of the next screen. Once the magazine’s name pops up (if it’s available, of course), press on the name of the publication to see its latest issues and articles.
HOW TO I ADD MAGAZINES TO MY FAVORITES/MY MAGAZINES?
On the iphone/ipad: Go to the Apple News+ tab and press either Browse The Catalog or one of the topics at the top. Scroll to the magazine you want and tap Follow below the cover. A pop-up appears to confirm that you are following
that magazine, and it will appear in the My Magazines section.
Alternatively, press the Following tab at the bottom of the Apple News interface. Enter the name of the magazine you’d like to favorite in the Channels, Topics, And Stories search bar at the top. When you see the name of the magazine pop up in the search results, press the heart icon to the right to favorite it.
On the Mac: Click on the News+ icon in the sidebar. Click either Browse The Catalog or one of the topics at the top. Scroll to the magazine you want and tap the blue Follow button at the lower right of the cover. A pop-up appears to confirm that you are following that magazine, and it will appear in the My Magazines section.
HOW DO I READ ARTICLES
FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, AND OTHER PAYWALLED NEWS SITES?
If you look for The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and other paywalled
sites as though you’re looking for a magazine, you’re not going to find anything. Instead, to give them priority in the Apple News+ interface, you need to add them to your favorites searching for the publications through the Following tab.
There’s a good chance that you won’t even have to add them to your favorites in order to see their content, though, as the landing page for Apple News+ includes default sections for From the Wall Street Journal and From the Los Angeles Times. The New York Times is not available through Apple News or News+.
CAN I DROP MY SUBSCRIPTIONS TO PUBLICATIONS INCLUDED IN APPLE NEWS+?
It depends on how often you use that publication and how you use it. Take The Wall Street Journal. A subscription normally costs $39 a month, and an Apple News+ subscription is a good way to avoid that punch. Thing is, you’re not getting all the WSJ’S content with Apple News+. You’re just getting a carefully curated sample. If you just want to read the Journal casually, though, Apple News+ is a great option.
HOW DO I CANCEL APPLE NEWS+?
On the iphone/ ipad: Go to the
App Store app, press on your profile photo in the upper right-hand corner, and then press
Subscriptions. Then press Apple News+ and tap Cancel Subscription (or Cancel Free Trial if you’re still in the trial period).
On the Mac: In the News app, click on the File menu and select Manage Subscriptions. The App Store app will open, and then you can cancel here. Look for the Apple News section and click the edit link at the far right. Another window will open, and then you click Cancel Subscription (or Cancel Free Trial if you’re still in the trial period).
IS MACWORLD AVAILABLE THROUGH APPLE NEWS+?
Yes, it is! You can find our digital magazine by either scrolling to Macworld under the Browse The Catalog (A-M) tab or under the Science & Tech tab. ■