The Guardian has relaunched its mobile app to offer more personalised, visual content and boost the prominence of podcasts as part of a “mobile first” strategy.
The introduction of a dedicated tab for podcasts will help people discover and listen to new episodes via an in-app player, while users can also listen to all articles with a text-to-speech feature.
The overhaul is an acknowledgment of how central the mobile phone has become for many news organisations. Three-quarters of the Guardian’s digital audience who visit daily do so through a mobile device. The app has more than 1 million daily active users.
Media groups are attempting to shore up direct relationships with readers amid the increasing use of AI chatbots that threaten to give information to users without providing them the original journalism from where it is sourced.
The Times also recently relaunched its mobile app and in a sign of the increasing convergence brought by the digital age, the commercial broadcaster LBC has launched an app that it describes as a “one-stop destination for breaking news, expert analysis and trusted opinion”.
The new Guardian app aims to show off a wider range of its journalism with a hub for its most popular puzzles – another driver of audience engagement – and a “less overwhelming” homepage.
The redesign reflects a trend towards different forms of journalism, with more curated selections of photography, video and other forms of visual journalism.
The mobile phone has become a clear focus through which media companies deliver journalism, with users of apps being more loyal and engaged. At the Guardian, app users have 15 times the average number of webpage views.
A new homepage design has been launched across all five editions of the Guardian: UK, US, Australia, Europe and international.
Katharine Viner, the editor-in-chief of Guardian News & Media, said: “The new Guardian app and homepage mark a major step forward in how we deliver our journalism to the millions of people who read, listen to and watch the Guardian every day.
“Our digital relaunch is more visual and contemporary and will allow us to keep innovating and developing new ways to project Guardian journalism around the world.”
Alex Breuer, the executive creative director at Guardian Media Group, said: “In the redesign of the Guardian app and homepage our priority has been to showcase the speed, depth and breadth of our journalism with the brand flair we are renowned for.
“We’ve made the layout a more dynamic design and experience. This helps our audience stay informed with independent and distinctive news and features.”
The app is available for download on iOS and Android.
