This is a research of mechanisms which news applications use to create the customized newsfeed for the user. Prepared by Stanfy company You can download this case study on our site - absolutely free, in 1 click! http://stanfy.com/blog/news-applications-customization-study/

2. News apps category became one of the most popular from the early beginning
of mobile applications. This is a part of our everyday life and many people start
their day accompanied with coffee and mobile news.
There are more than 40.000 apps in the News category in both AppStore and
Google Play, so competition is rather tough.
At the same time, according to Flurry analytics, News category is among those
where users are extremely loyal (use more than 5 times a week, retention rate
is over 50%).
So, users are already loyal, but publishers need to push loyalty even higher.
But how?

3. The main feature which media apps use now to grow loyalty is news feed
personalization.
This is a short research of the most trending news applications and their
approaches to trimming newsfeed individually for their users.
The newsfeed personalization is achieved in 2 ways:
● User­driven. User selects interested topics and sources including tags and
sub­topics
● Machine­driven. App algorithm monitors user’s preferences such as news
views, likes/dislikes and social preferences. After collecting this info
application adjusts newsfeed and eliminates uninteresting items.
So, let’s look at examples of customization tools.

4. 1. Set your interests
Apps like StumpleUpon, Pulse and Zite don’t have the generic newsfeed at all ­ you need to choose
your preferences first.
StumpleUpon Pulse Pulse

5. 2. Link your social networks and RSS
….and let the app do the rest for you. Flipboard is the most well­known example for adding social news
to the newsfeed along with picking topics:

6. In Feedly we also see this approach: the app offers user choose from topics or sync with Google
Reader:

7. Zite application gets user’s information from the social networks and also picking topics:

8. 3. Let the algorithm will learn your preferences
Vu application learns what user likes through tags and simple Yes/No answers:

9. and also through topic selection and indicating emotions:

10. 4. Mix of tools
Topics, subtopics and newssource choose combined with like/dislike buttons.
News360 application offers a wide range of customization options. First, user has a chance to select
the topics. Later they can refine this list:

11. As well as create news section and like or dislike the article:

12. Conclusions
● News apps category is one of the most popular in marketplace, the competition is tough. Most
apps have a rather loyal audience already, but publishers push it even further;
● At the moment the most effective way to keep users attention in the news app is newsfeed
customisation. Currently there two major trends in newsfeed personalization;
● Users­driven approach gives an opportunity to each user to select their own share of topics and
news sources;
● Machine­driven approach implies using an algorithm that suggest the most relevant news based
on user’s profiles in social networks, RSS, tags, votes and even emotions;
● Some apps use a mix of these tools to engage and retain users for longer time;
● None of these tools is a silver bullet for news apps, so publishers continue to search. As the
battle on news apps market continues, we are sure that in a little while some new exciting user
retention techniques will come up.

13. About Stanfy
Mobile Design & Development Team
We create awesome iOS and Android apps
Visit us at stanfy.com