NYT Now: Stories at the Speed of Life
NYT Now wraps current high-quality news in an easy-to-use youth-focused package. It launched as a freemium app (free for reading up to 25 articles a month and $7.99 a month for unlimited access), but just last week, TNW reported that on May 11 the New York Times will "relaunch the app as a free product." In my opinion, this moves the app into the "must try" category.
Purpose & Functionality
NYT Now is organized into three sections:
- Times News: A "daily briefing" each morning to bring you up to speed and "continuous updates" of relevant stories throughout the day
- Our Picks: A curated list of top stories from other sites across the web
- Bookmarks: A place to save articles from Times News or Our Picks and read later
Rating: simplicity, usefulness, beauty and necessity
- Simplicity. (8/10) I've enjoyed using the app. It's simple and clean.
- Usefulness. (8/10) If you want to read the full New York Times, this app isn't for you, but for those of us who prefer to save on subscription fees and have access to top stories, NYT Now is worth a try.
- Beauty. (7/10) Overall the app is well designed. NYT articles look great (especially on the iPhone 6 plus), but "Our Picks" articles display the source website. This means ads and inconsistent typography.
- Necessity. (8/10) There are tons of good options for news, but if you're looking for high-quality content from an established name like the New York Times, it's worth downloading.
- Stickiness. (7/10) With the large number of alternatives, I can't call this an extremly sticky app, but I do find myself using it daily.
Alternatives
- I wish the Wall Street Journal had an app like this!
- The Economist Espresso
- Curating apps like Flipboard, Newstand, etc
- A full subscription to NYT, WSJ, USA Today, etc
Download NYT Now for iOS from the App Store.