Do you still have the memory of warm old days with a newspaper in one hand and coffee in another? Do you still crave the pleasure of sipping tea while glancing through the day-to-day news? The knowledge of domestic and international circuits, food habits, your favorite astrologer, weather forecasts, crime alerts, or some star kid new found love; news platforms facilitate everything. However, with the progression of time, the golden days have gone. Ordinarily, the first thing we do in the morning is to scroll through the news feed of popular mobile apps. With this digitized pace, it is essential to stay abreast of the latest events happening.There are several popular news apps in the market, one of which is Inshorts.
In this guide, we are going to dive into the development process of an app like Inshorts. For more information, Keep scrolling!
What is Inshorts?
Inshorts is a daily news app that picks the latest from both international and national sources. The software presents the information (news, blogs, and infographics) in a short and crisp 60 words or less. The content is personalized in both Hindi and English. All summarised stories possess only facts and headlines in a readable format. Be it the gossip of Bollywood or news about the latest government policies; the app provides all sorts of updates. Inshorts was founded in 2013 by three IIT Delhi dropouts.
Image Credit
Most popular News app in market
There are several popular news apps in the market, few of which them are listed below:
- Feedly
- News360
- Newsy
- Trends
- NewsMap
- Digg
- Ziner
- Mashable
Features to be integrated in developing a news app like Inshorts
Admin Panel
1. Login
The first step as an admin or the publisher is of logging into the application. Avail the credentials provided by developers and tap into the different aspects of the solution for providing updated news to the users.
2. Push Notifications
Call it feature or an app marketing strategy, push notifications is a vital component of the news app development. Increase user retention by sending important updates regarding exciting news, entertainment, or some other offers.
3. Add Content
Quality content is the heart of a news app. The information should be supported by facts and provoke users’ interests. Diversify the app content by providing information in different formats like infographics, audio, and video news, etc. Don’t forget to update your content on a regular basis for keeping the users aware of current happenings.
4. Offline Services
Allow the users to access news even in the low internet connectivity areas by providing them Offline services. The users may be present in one of these situations-
- Hiking in Mountains or Deep Forests
- Long Trips in the deserted areas
- Poor Signal due to Bad Weather
- Or simply facing low connectivity from the mobile company.
In such circumstances, your app users should be able to save the news in offline mode.
5. Manage Categories
One of the critical features of a news app is diversified categories. Allow the users to browse from various categories like Tech, Sports, World, Lifestyle, Planet, Weather, Movies, and much more. Manage the categories for a better exploration into the app.
Reader Panel
1. Register
Similar to major on-demand apps, the news app also requires you to first register into the solution. Incorporate numerous options for registering into the app like Email Id, Social Network, Contact No., etc. for any easy access.
2. Search News
A self-explanatory feature which allows the users to search for news by inputting simple keywords into the portal.
3. Use Filters
Smart Filtering options would allow the user to segregate different news types like political, international, business, entertainment, local events, lifestyle, etc. The users can avail of this feature and read about their favorite category.
4. My Feed
A news feed is the central component of the app. It is where the latest headlines and personalized news is displayed. Users would witness this section first while logging into the application.
5. Mark Favorites
Some articles are exclusive, and so the users should be given an option for saving the information. Mark your favorite pieces with this feature and read them whenever required.
6. Go Social
Sharing news with a tap is a must feature in this digitized age. Users can share their favorite pieces of news content over different social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.
Build a News App like Inshorts
1. Ideation & Requirements
The first step is to know what kind of news app you wish to develop- News Aggregator or News App Portal.
News Aggregator is a kind of application that covers numerous episodes happening around the globe. The type is usually loved amongst people as it provides all the mindful information by a few taps. The quality of content in a news application plays a significant role. The content has to be highly engaging and exciting for capturing the attention of the users. You can consider the following pieces of content in the News App-
- Events happening around the city, such as regional fairs, charity events, exhibitions, and more.
- Political events occurring around the world.
- Global Events encouraging users’ interests.
- Big Announcements, Music Festivals, Celebrity lifestyles, and others.
- Weather reporting, Crime Reports, or some optimistic news.
Share the content for satiating the users’ reading hunger.
News App Portal is beneficial for the people who already own some newspapers or web media platforms. The owners can leverage this technology to develop a news app version of their already existing work, similar to what Times Of India has done.
Develop a solution that inspires reading, has efficiency, provides information about all the day-to-day events happening around the world.Decide which of the above two you are going to implement. If you are the owner of some news resource, consider developing a news app portal, else the news aggregator would do. Formulate your core idea into requirements such as feature kit (avail the list of features as mentioned earlier) and share it with your development team.
2. Monetization Strategy
You don’t want to make a news app with no earnings, right? Hence, it is vital to have a monetization strategy for gaining the same. You can begin with the following options-
- In-app advertising
A popular monetization model which acts as a go-to-option for various businesses. Nonetheless, this strategy should be handled carefully, as too many advertisements may ruin the user experience and may result in the uninstallation of apps.
- Freemium Model
Using this model, one can offer somewhat clipped experience in free mode. Provide a full experience of the app with paid subscriptions. You can choose to offer personalized services, ad removal, etc. in the paid version.
- Promotional Events
Opt for this option only if you receive a good response from the potential app users. Organize events like social issues debates and advertise your solution on such platforms.
3. Hire Development Team
To develop the best news app, it is crucial to hire an experienced and skilled development team. The team must include following kind of experts-
- Business Analyst
- Project Manager
- UI/UX Designers
- Android Developers
- iOS Developers
- QA Experts
Check the portfolio for knowing their expertise before making the final call.
4. Stages of Development
After marking the checkboxes mentioned above, get your hands into the development. A typical software development process has the following stages-
- List your Requirements stating the feature kit
- Create a Prototype which includes wireframes
- Pay attention to the Design of Application
- Write a clear and comprehensible code
Cost to build a News App like Inshorts
-
Feature Set
A news application with advanced features like data syncing and others may cost higher than the one with basic functionality.
-
Development Platform
The cost to develop an app like Inshorts is dependent upon the development platform. Apps developed on iOS platforms are going to cost less than that of Android because there are very few devices to be tested upon.
-
Technology & Resources
The cost of development is dependent upon the expertise of developers. The development team comprises of the following-
- Project manager
- UI/UX designer
- Backend developer
- Android developers
- iOS developers
- QA Team
Advanced technology and resources required for the development of an app that attracts a vast number of resources also play a vital role in determining the cost.
-
Area of Development
The cost of development is also dependent upon the location of software development. Some areas have low cost for resources, while others may offer a very basic development at higher prices.
-
Application Design
The design of an application is the breaker or maker of the software. A simple yet intuitive design may attract a lot of users to avail the app, while a complex and not-so-easy-to-load design may discourage the users. Those, as mentioned above, are the primary attributes required for estimating the cost of development. To know the precise figure, contact our experts for an estimate.
How Can Matellio Help?
News is something which connects every age group of audience with varying tastes. News pieces may include global warming, terrorism, politics, share market, sports, beauty pageant, or something else. All of them are to be amalgamated in a news sharing application.If you have some ideas, share them with our experts. Matellio, with its twenty-plus year experienced team, is here to craft a robust and interactive news application for your business. Share your requirements, and our team shall get back to you soonest possible.
Got some suggestions? Feel free to sound off in the comment box below.
Disclaimer: Please note that the content of this blog including links, texts, images, and graphics is only meant for informational purposes. We do not intend to infringe any copyright policy or do not possess any third-party material. If you have issues related to any of our content or images, kindly drop your message at info@matellio.com
