Apple this week unveiled and launched its new premium news subscription service dubbed Apple News+. The platform is a big boost to the Apple News app and sports a number of features and plenty of content. Here’s everything you need to know about signing up for (and using) Apple News+ on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Mac.
What Is It?
Apple News+ is an optional subscription that can be added onto the standard Apple News experience. It’ll allow users unlimited access to more than 300 magazines, newspapers and premium digital subscriptions for one monthly fee.
That covers a wide variety of publications on various topics. You can see a full list of the magazines and news outlets included with an Apple News+ subscription here.
It’s worth noting that new magazines may appear for Apple News+ subscribers as time goes on. At this point, it doesn’t look like there are a full 300 magazines and publications included. Some outlets aren’t showing up in the categories they should be listed, or are only showing up for certain people.
How Much Does It Cost?
Apple News+ costs $9.99 per month in the U.S. and $12.99 per month in Canada. You can share a single subscription with family members if you have Family Sharing set up, however.
On that note, Apple is actually letting all iOS and macOS device owners try out Apple News+ for free for one month. All you have to do is sign up for the service — you won’t be charged until the first month is up.
Note: As soon as you cancel the subscription, your trial will expire. Because of that, it may be worth waiting to cancel the subscription until just before the trial would end anyway.
How Can I Get It?
Apple News+ is available on iOS and macOS devices within the standard Apple News app. Currently, it’s only available in the U.S. and Canada.
If you’re running iOS 12.2 or macOS 10.14.4, just open the Apple News app and you should see a banner advertising Apple News+. If you don’t see anything, you can follow these instructions.
On iOS:
- Open Apple News on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.
- Tap the new News+ icon in the bottom menu bar.
- Tap on Get Started.
- Then, tap on Try It Free and follow the instructions.
On macOS:
- Open Apple News on your Mac.
- Click on the Apple News+ category in the sidebar. It should be directly under the Today category.
- Click on Get Started and Try It Free. Follow the instructions to complete your trial signup.
How to Use Apple News+
All Apple News+ content can be accessed by clicking or tapping on the News+ icon. As mentioned earlier, that’ll be in the bottom menu bar on iOS and in the sidebar on macOS.
Once you open the News+ tab on any device, you’ll see a My Magazines section, as well as featured publications and curated recommendations below it. The platform is pretty simple to use from here, but there are a few caveats and tips you should know.
Apple News+ Tips
- Apple teased mobile-optimized content and News+-specific designs, but not all magazines feature these. Some will just appear as normal PDF documents that you can flip through.
- You’ll also see category icons at the top. You can browse the entire catalog of available magazines, or swipe to the right to see more specific categories.
- You can click the cloud download icon next to any magazine issue to download it to your device. That’ll allow you to read without an internet connection.
- At this point, there isn’t a way to add or remove magazines straight from the My Magazines category. You’ll need to manually search out publications with the Search bar and hit the Heart icon to follow them. Also, you may see recently read (but not hearted) magazines pop up here but disappear shortly after. It’s not clear why this happens.
- The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Toronto Star, and digital subscriptions won’t show up in the News+ magazines catalog. You’ll have to search for those publications and sites manually.
- Some news content from Apple News+ publications will show up in the standard news tab. If you’re an Apple News+ subscriber, you can access this content and bypass any paywall.
- If you don’t want to subscribe to Apple News+, the standard Apple News experience won’t change for you. You’ll just see a new News+ tab that you can ignore.
Of course, it’s important to note that Apple News+ is a bit buggy in its current form. There are certain features seemingly missing and sometimes random glitches will occur (like the disappearing My Magazines additions).
We’re certain Apple will work out the kinks in a future software update as users submit feedback, however.
How to Cancel Apple News+
If Apple News+ isn’t your thing, canceling it is pretty easy. But, again, keep in mind that your trial will end immediately if you cancel it. If you’d still like to use up your free month, it may be worth setting up a reminder right before the month will end.
On iOS:
- Open Apple News.
- Tap on the Following icon in the lower-right corner.
- Scroll down and tap on Manage Subscriptions.
- You’ll see an Apple News+ subscription in the next window. You can tap on Cancel Free Trial to end it.
On macOS:
- Open Apple News.
- Click on File in the top menu bar.
- In the drop-down menu, click on Manage Subscriptions.
- You’ll now be brought to the App Store subscription window. Click Edit next to Apple News+.
- Click on Cancel Free Trial.