I have family in France, so I like to be
able to keep up with things that are going on over there (I live in North
America, so it’s not like it’s exactly close by). Over the past year or so,
I’ve been telling myself that I would do research to find good, reliable news
sources for checking out what’s happening in France and, generally, what’s
happening in the world.
Finally, I committed to my resolution and
started to do some research. The following are the three apps that I found
during my research process that I’ve absolutely been loving. I’m able to keep
up with my family in France and stay on top of all the latest events and
Variancetv goings-on. It’s been awesome!
News Break - Rating: 4.4, Downloads: 10M
News Break
brings you all the breaking news in your area as soon as it happens, so you’re
the first to know exactly what’s going on around you. You have the ability to
personalize the app, so you see only the articles that relate most to you; no
more wasting time scrolling through boring news stories. The best part of this
app is that it brings you only the good stuff - the stuff that you actually
want to read about.
Unfortunately,
News Break is a bit lacking when it comes to disabled accessibility. There is
not currently a feature that reads the articles to you, so if you have trouble
reading text on your phone, you will probably find this app tough to use.
Pros: Customize what news you see to
easily avoid the stories you don’t want.
Cons: Not great for those who have trouble with their vision/reading on a mobile device.
Cons: Not great for those who have trouble with their vision/reading on a mobile device.
Overall: As long as you don’t mind not
having a text-to-voice feature, you’ll like being able to determine what news
stories you receive and when
CNN Breaking US & World News - Rating: 4.2, Downloads: 10M
This is the newest app in my collection and
my personal favorite for being able to connect with my family in France. I’m
able to find out about everything that’s going on over there - often before
they do (which is kind of funny). I came across this app when I was doing a bit
of research on - would you believe it - news in France, and I haven’t stopped
using it since.
What’s
really nice about this app is that you can stream CNN original shows like
Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown and Erin Burnett Out Front - all from your
phone. For specific news alerts, you can customize the notifications you
receive. And, for unlimited access to all news videos, you simply have to enter
your television provider; no need to extra!
If you live
outside the US, my understanding is that you will not be able to watch
on-demand and Live TV. While this kind of sucks - it’s never fun to be limited
on the content you receive - you will still be able to access news stories
whenever you want. It’s up to you to determine if this is good enough for you.
Pros: Access as many CNN shows and news
resources as you want
Cons: For those who live outside of the
United States, you’re limited on the video content you can access
Overall: Videos are hard to access when
outside of the U.S. but you’ll be able to get all of the biggest news stories
worldwide in a flash
SmartNews - Rating: 4.3, Downloads: 10M
With
SmartNews, you can access updated information several times a day in order to
stay informed about world news all day long. Regardless of your preferred news
source, from Fox News and CBS News to the Huffington Post, you’ll be the first
to know about every breaking news story out there.
Just keep in
mind that downloading stories can take up space on your phone, so you won’t
want to download too many things at once. Or, plan in advance to make sure you
have enough space in your phone to enjoy reading about all the latest in world
news.
Pros: Find stories from all of your
favorite news sources at any time of the day
Cons: Stories can take up a lot of space
on your phone.
Overall: As long as you plan ahead before
downloading stories, you’ll enjoy staying in-the-know about all major stories
worldwide.
Conclusion
Now that I've been using these apps, I’m
even able to learn things about what’s happening in France before my family
members who live there. I can’t tell you how many times in the last month I’ve
checked in with them, only to have them say that I was the first person who
told them about the news. If you’re looking to get ahead of the news - at home,
abroad, whatever - I think you’ll really enjoy these three apps.
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