Apple’s still-in-beta operating systems will immediately reroute News customers to the Apple News app when they click on links from a News publisher.
In other words, if you click or tap on a link to a paywalled story released by a News partner– including stories from our own Additional Crunch membership program– iOS 14, iPadOS 14 and macOS Big Sur will take you directly to the article page in the News app, even when the link seemingly indicates the publisher’s own site.
Tony Haile (who founded the ad-free subscription news service Scroll) tweeted about the change today, and I have actually had the ability to duplicate it myself.
The experience should recognize to (for instance) New york city Times app readers who, when they click a web link, are taken straight to the post page in the NY Times app. (In TechCrunch’s case, I observed that Apple even prompts users to open the News app when they click stories that aren’t paywalled.)
Woah, I question the number of publishers in Apple News realize that the new iOS14 and MacOS Big Sur are by default intercepting traffic to their sites and sending it to the Apple News app instead. pic.twitter.com/k4PQG9mE7M
— Tony Haile (@arctictony) August 10, 2020
99 monthly membership gets you access to paywalled stories from publishers like The New Yorker and The Wall Street Journal, you only get access via the News app– not the publishers’ websites. I have actually often seen something I desire to check out on Google or Twitter, but rather of clicking the link, I have to open the News app and track down the story.
So this appears like it must substantially enhance the reader experience, even if it might be a little disconcerting at. And it only uses to News subscribers, who are opted-in however will have the alternative to turn off the “Open Web Hyperlinks in News” feature in their News settings.
But as Haile noted, publishers might be less excited about the modification: “Any tactical reasoning that Apple News represents a different channel/audience is now gone. This straight cannibalizes a publishers’ core subscription audience.”
Although Apple has not launched News customer numbers, there have been a number of reports– consisting of a November 2019 story from CNBC– suggesting that the service has struggled to attract new customers after signing on 200,000 users in the very first 48 hours after launch. And Digiday reported that publishers have been underwhelmed with revenue.
Update: An Apple spokesperson simply provided the following statement:
Apple is devoted to creating the best experience for Apple News customers. This change provides customers smooth access to the material that becomes part of their News membership right in the News app or publisher app, in addition to providing publishers with increased engagement and income opportunities on Apple News. News customers can set their link choice in their News settings.
TechCrunch.
