Apple News+ is a premium service within the free Apple News app that has been designed to provide a curated experience to its users.

Subscribers can use it to access hundreds of the most popular digital publishers, magazines, and newspapers. So, getting your publication published to Apple News+ provides a great opportunity to be discovered by millions of readers every month. Apple News is the number one news app globally, with millions of active users reading billions of articles each month.

The app as a whole has a major focus on the editorial integrity of the publications it features. Apple News+ focuses on the most popular magazines and news outlets, so your publication will be in good company. With its own proprietary Apple News Format, publications that want to feature on Apple News+ will need to be transformed or rebuilt to align with its required format. The format offers engaging and intuitive design elements which are optimised for all Apple devices, including the ability to add rich media and ads.

Transforming publications into a new format may seem like an additional burden to your existing publication process. But Canvasflow offers a no-code Apple News+ integration to transform and publish your content into this format quickly and efficiently. In this guide, we explore the different ways to publish to Apple News+, including the benefits to the platform, and things to consider.

What is Apple News+?

Apple News+ is a subscription service which provides users with access to online magazines and digital newspapers. Users can access premium back-to-back magazines and news content that may usually be behind a paywall. It’s a paid-for subscription service which sits within the free Apple News app. This means it’s a chance to get content in front of millions of Apple product users, including on iPhones, iPads, iPods and Macs.

Users can browse past editions and find new content and publications by category, which means gaining like-minded readers from some of the biggest global publications. The service also features push notifications, breaking news updates, curated content and personalised user recommendations.

Apple News+ users can subscribe or follow your media output directly, earning you an engaged readership

Magazines published on Apple News+ can use formatting and design features to create truly engaging content. This includes rich media and interactive layouts, animations, photography, and video, all optimised for each Apple device. Apple News+ users can subscribe or follow your media output directly, earning you an engaged readership. Digital magazines can also be downloaded on Apple News+ so that readers can access it offline or in low connectivity.

Transform your content into Apple News+ Format

Because of its unique format, there are a few extra steps to publishing to Apple News+. Although back issues of publications on the app may include PDFs, the interactive and engaging design benefits of the Apple News Format should be embraced.

The first step includes meeting the platform’s restrictions on journalistic or editorial focus. It’s a news app with a focus on quality and reputation, so there’s an expectation that featured publications meet journalistic standards.

Next you need to make sure you use the right format. There are a few options for transforming your publication into the correct format, including an iCloud-based News Publisher platform. However, an all-in-one platform like Canvasflow can publish directly to multiple channels including Apple News+, unifying your efforts and streamlining the design and publishing process. It also includes a powerful conversion tool from print-ready PDF to Apple News Format, to further automate the process.

When you are ready to publish there are a few approaches to getting your publication live on Apple News+ , ranging from the technical to the code-free. There is Apple News API for direct publishing, but it does require technical knowledge and development work. A platform like Canvasflow offers a code-free way of directly publishing to Apple News+ which can make life a lot easier for those without a dedicated technical team or limited coding knowledge.

The three major steps to publishing to Apple News+ include:

  • Meet the platform restrictions
  • Transform your content into Apple News Format
  • Publish directly to Apple News+

Meet the platform restrictions

As it sits in the wider Apple News app, your content must meet specific restrictions to get onto Apple News+ as it is for publications which are journalistic or editorial, so you are not able to use it for purely promotional or personal material.

Some restrictions to be aware of include:

  • Content must meet general journalistic or editorial standards
  • Must cover journalistic or editorial topics
  • Publishers must be based in countries where Apple News is currently launched (UK, Australia, USA, or Canada).
  • Publications can’t be purely promotional for a company or service
  • Personal blogs aren’t allowed either

Transform your content into Apple News+ Format

Although back issues of magazines and may include PDF versions, publishers should take full advantage of Apple News+ propriety formatting and design. Transforming your content into the Apple News Format will prepare it for distribution on Apple News+. The format can include rich media like interactive maps, photos, videos, tables, social media embeds, audio, and text. All of this can be customised to meet your particular publication or brand style.

The format can include rich media like interactive maps, photos, videos, tables, social media embeds, audio, and text. All of this can be customised to meet your particular publication or brand style.

You only need to transform your content into Apple News Format once, as the app will automatically render and optimise the format for different Apple devices. This means readers can engage with your publication whether they’re viewing it on iPad, iPhone, iPod, or Mac. Apple News Publisher is an iCloud platform that can convert CMS content into the Apple News Format, and can also be used to design and create articles in a web-based editing platform.

Third party design and editing platforms like Canvasflow can also be used to transform content into the Apple News Format. It can automatically transform print-ready PDFs, design files, or CMS content into a range of formats including the Apple News Format. The benefit is that you can transform, design, and prepare your publication for publication to a range of channels all in one go, including directly to Apple News+. This streamlines the transformation process and lets publishers focus on the content.

Publish directly to Apple News+

There are three main ways to publish Apple News+ content, and it depends on your particular publishing workflow and requirements. Some, like using the Apple News API, are technical solutions so will require development work. Others, like third party options such as Canvasflow, are code-free options for publishing.

Publishers can:

  • Publish using the Apple News API
  • Publish from Apple News Publisher
  • Publish directly through third party platforms like Canvasflow

The Apple News API route requires technical skills and development work, but will mean publishing directly to Apple News+ from your current publication process. Publishers can also use the iCloud based News Publisher to create and publish publications to Apple News+ from the editing platform itself, however this is a manual process.

A platform like Canvasflow is a code-free way to prepare content to be published to Apple News+. The benefit of a platform like Canvasflow is that it can ingest content from various sources such as converting existing PDFs, or through integrations with software like InDesign or popular CMS’. Likewise, it can then publish to multiple channels and platforms, including Apple News+. This means the transformation to the new format won’t add any laborious steps or involve any additional software.

Things to consider before publishing on Apple News+

There are a few points to consider before publishing on Apple News+, to be weighed up against the benefits of being featured on the platform. The first consideration is whether your publication is the right fit for the platform. As the name suggests, Apple News houses publications with an editorial or journalistic focus. There are restrictions around repurposed content or promotional material too. Another consideration is reach. Apple News is the number one news app across the world, so has millions of engaged users. However, Apple News+ is currently (as of 2022) only available in Canada, the UK, the USA, and Australia. So it currently doesn’t have a truly world-wide readership. Publishers will need to be based in these countries to be featured on Apple News+ too.

Another major consideration is around revenue. Your publication may already have a subscription cost or be behind a paywall. For the price of one subscription, Apple users can access many hundreds of different digital magazines and news outlets. So there should be a consideration around whether this model will cannibalise your existing subscription model. Apple also takes 50% of subscription revenue, and the rest is distributed between the content publishers.

However, another source of revenue is with ads, which are supported in Apple News+. Native, display or video ads are all supported within your articles. Publishers can keep 100% of the ad revenue from featured ads that they sell. Publishers get 70% of revenue from featured ads that Apple sells, and there are additional revenue streams from pooled ads too.

So, to recap, the main things to consider before publishing on Apple News+ include:

  • Publications must have a journalistic or editorial focus
  • Apple News+ is currently only available in the USA, UK, Canada, and Australia
  • Apple takes a 50% cut of subscription revenue, the rest is shared between publishers based on views
  • Apple News Format supports Apple ads in a range of forms, so offer another avenue for revenue

Benefits of Apple News+ for publishers

Apple News+ is part of the Apple News app, which is the number one news app across the world. It has a huge audience of engaged readers, with millions of active Apple News+ subscribers. You’ll share screen space with some of the most popular publications in the world, attracting like-minded readers to your publication. It’s also an extra source of both readers and revenue, as publishers will earn for how many users read their stories and are also able to embed a range of adverts.

The Apple News Format has been designed to engage users across Apple devices, so is an incredibly intuitive format to display your publication in. Content can be fully customised to fit your brand or publication style, and the addition of rich media can bring stories to the next level. Publishers can transform their stories with images, video, galleries, mosaics, tables, interactive maps, embeddable social media, animations, and audio.

The main benefits of Apple News+ for publishers include:

  • Tap into a huge new audience of engaged reader
  • Once in Apple News Format, your content will be automatically optimised for each Apple device type
  • Earn revenue for publication views and keep 100% of revenue from the ads you sell
  • Use rich media to tell stories including animations, video, interactive maps, and audio
  • Stand out from the crowd with featured like animated covers

A platform to publish to Apple News+

Canvasflow is a powerful editing and publishing platform that can publish your magazine, content, and news directly to Apple News+. Whether you’re designing from scratch using the drag and drop editor or converting a print-ready PDF, Canvasflow can supercharge your publication process.

Make publishing to Apple News+ simple with powerful integrations and full creative control. Plus, the cloud-based platform makes cross-team collaboration easy.

Explore the platform and book a free demo today.

Published On: October 21st, 2022 / Categories: Digital Publishing /