There is no doubt that our mobile devices are a multifunctional tool at the centre of our social lives. We spend time browsing, uploading, messaging and also keeping up with the latest news stories. Today, Cheetah Mobile Inc. a mobile utility and content app developer, announced the latest version of News Republic app that brings exclusive “Made for Samsung” features for Samsung mobile products. This is an Android app that also has a Gear S3 companion app that our readers can Install.
New features
- Text-to-speech: Article pages now have a speaker icon that users can tap to activate text-to-speech functionality. Playback controls will appear at the bottom of the screen.
- Long-press for more info: Within a news article, Samsung users can now long-press on a topic to view Wikipedia information without leaving the article.
- Edge Panel news: Samsung Galaxy S7 edge owners can get the freshest news, simply by opening their Edge Panel app. A list of Breaking News will appear, and a single tap will open the article of interest.
- Gear S3 widget: News Republic is now compatible with the Gear S3. The new widget displays the Top Stories, and users can click to read the full articles, with the help of a circular scroll bar, directly from their smartwatch.
- Newsstand: Users can select individual news outlets to follow from within the app. News Republic’s learning algorithm will also recommend content providers directly in the article list page.
Using the app on the Samsung Gear S3 is quite a pleasant experience. The screen is big enough to let you read along the text without squinting or giving yourself a headache for no reason. You can use the bezel to go through the news stories, swipe up to read more on a particular item or tap it to open it up on your mobile phone. The app was smooth and offered a polished user experience, which I think could become part of my daily smartwatch routine. You can download the app from the Samsung Galaxy Apps store, the “News Republic for Samsung” app and also the
Background
Cheetah Mobile acquiredNews Republic in 2016 to drive the company’s emergence as a leading mobile content company. The News Republic app has achieved the No.1 position in the News and Media category in over 60 countries on Google Play, and it has been No. 1 in News and Media in 23 countries/regions on iOS.
