The Los Angeles Times has completely redesigned its iPhone news app (US$1.99), and the new version is now available for download in the iTunes store. There are several good choices among iPhone news apps, so the LA Times app faces some stiff competition.
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| Los Angeles Times News App |
Plenty of local content
The homepage of the Los Angeles Times iPhone app is divided into six sections, including headlines, photos and L.A. Now (a section that focuses on local Los Angeles news and traffic). Under headlines, users can access a variety of news categories, such as local, national, business, sports, and entertainment. Under the columnists tab, you can browse opinion articles sorted by author. The LA Times news app also has some nifty social features, including an L.A. Tweets section that displays recent tweets from the Times’ various Twitter accounts.
Articles can be shared via Facebook, email, or Twitter, and you can also save articles to your favorites for later reading. The Los Angeles Times news app also supports offline caching, so you can read articles later -- even if you don’t have an Internet connection.
The photos section includes a handful of photo albums. While the photos are easy to browse and include detailed captions, the albums seem rather old and date back to news events that happened over a week ago. This may change, however, as the app is rolled out.
Sports fans will particularly like the LA Times app. The sports section automatically displays the top headlines, but you can also sort news by your favorite teams, including the Dodgers, Lakers, Clippers, Ducks, and college teams like USC and UCLA. Entertainment junkies will also enjoy targeted content like specific blogs for American Idol or celebrity gossip.
Simple interface
The app itself is very easy to use, even if the interface is boring. Unlike the flashy CNN app, the Los Angeles Times keeps things simple. Headlines are plain black text on a white background, although some are illustrated with thumbnails. The LA Times app includes ads, but they are rather unobtrusive and usually only show up at the bottom of select articles.
The Bottom Line
The Los Angeles Times did a good job with its news app. Although it’s not the sexiest news app available, it does contain a great deal of content -- especially for Los Angeles residents -- and it is super simple to use. If you want a basic app for browsing the latest news headlines, the LA Times app is not a bad choice. However, there are several excellent news apps that are available for free, including The New York Times or AP Mobile.
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