Create your own news feed on your tablet

What you need: Web browser; Android or IOS (phone or tablet) Time required: 20 minutes

The Google Play Newsstand app has always been a convenient way to get all the latest news stories on your phone or tablet. With its latest update, it’s even easier to add topics of interest. The app now displays videos and photos in a higher resolution and they load faster on your device. The service is also now available as a website. We’ll show you how to add your ownwn news topics, then use the app’s brilliant features so that you stay on top of the news in 2017.

STEP1

To use the web version of Newsstand, go to www.snipca.com/22789 in your PC’S browser and log in using your Google account. Ensure it’s the same account you use on your phone and tablet. To find out the Google account you use on your device (Android or IOS), open any Google app (for example, the Play Store, Gmail or Maps), tap the three lines at the top left, then look at your account email address 1 .

STEP2

On the Google Play Newsstand web page, you’ll see news stories relevant to your location. If you’re using Newsstand for the first time, you’ll see the big national stories. By default, the weather forecast at the top uses Fahrenheit for temperatures. To change it to Celsius, click the three lines 1 , Settings, the ‘Temperature units’ dropdown menu then change it to Celsius. The four icons are For You (your magazine feed) 2 , Library 3 , Read Later 4 and Magazines 5 (which includes those you’ve subscribed to and bought from the Play Store).

STEP3

We’ll now show you how to customise the topics that appear in your newsfeed. First, click the Library icon 1 . You’ll see a list of topics or publications you follow as tiles 2 (firsttime users will see a random selection of tiles). To remove an item, click its tile 3 then drag it to the red Remove section that appears at the top 4 . Google prioritises your interests based on the way you’ve arranged your tiles (important items at the top), so click and drag to re-arrange them.

STEP4

It’s easy to add publications, topics, sports teams and people to your Library. To add a news source (for example, the BBC), type bbc in the search bar 1 . You’ll see a list of relevant search results as tiles. Click the tile you want (for example, BBC News), then click the ‘Add to Library’ icon 2 . Similarly, you can add other publications - including national newspapers ( The Guardian, Mail Online, The Times) and local ones ( Bournemouth Echo, Belfast Telegraph, Liverpool Echo). You can also search for and add topics you’re interested in (such as ‘brexit’, ‘sports’, ‘culture’).

STEP5

Likewise, you can also search for and add your favourite football, rugby or cricket team and celebrities. At this point, it’s worth returning to the Library section 1 and prioritising your interests, or deleting any unwanted ones (see Step 3). To read your updated newsfeed, go to the For You section 2 (recent changes may take a day to be reflected in your newsfeed).

STEP6

All articles have a bookmark icon and three dots. Click the bookmark icon 1 to save a story to read later (these articles are available offline on your devices). Click the three dots 2 to see a pop-up menu. This lets you hide stories from that publication 3 , receive fewer stories on that topic, or go to that publication’s home page within Newsstand 4 . The more you use Newsstand, the more relevant topics you’ll see that you can click to add to your Interests.

STEP7

The Newsstand mobile app (Android www.snipca.com/22792; IOS www.snipca.com/22793) has a few extra features. Tap Library 1 , then tap the Digest tab 2 . Here, you’ll see the top three news stories in each topic and source in your library. Explore 3 has several sections (including Entertainment, Sports, and News & Politics). Select one to see related topics that you can add to your list of favourites. Tap the three lines 4 , then Settings. Here, switch on the ‘Deals and offers’ slider to display product offers in your newsfeed and the ‘Daily briefing’ slider to display every morning the top news stories of the past 24 hours. ●