Magazine & News Apps

As we all know, the rules of media broadcast and consumption have changed forever. Gone are the days when the news came from only three local television stations and a nearby city newspaper.

Today people decide for themselves what is newsworthy and important. Social sites, RSS feeds, web TV, subject matter experts, bloggers and podcasters allow us to zero in on only the niche news topics we care the most about.

The explosion of media resources is amazing, but it comes with a downside too. Focusing our news-gathering eyes and ears on only a few specific topics, we run the risk of becoming narrow-minded and miss out on blindside stories that may affect us indirectly.

Our collection of the best news apps will help you keep tabs on the topics that are important to you as well as keep you aware of bigger stories and global news that need your attention. And if you sort by “highest rated,” you’ll notice there are definitely a few must-have news apps in this category.

Google Currents is a new free app that provides a polished, easy-to-read interface for your favorite news and media sites. Right off the bat we loved how you could easily import all of your Google Reader subscriptions—a quality Google resource that had all-too-often gone unread during the past year.

Everyone’s flooded with headlines and news in our web browsers all day long. Instapaper and Read It Later are great apps that let you mark content you’d like to read at a later date. Articles and videos easily queue up for mobile consumption whenever you’re ready for them.

For multimedia global reporting, we like the CNN and NPR News apps—both quality sources that package stories properly for the small screen.

So there you have it; sort and explore. And if there’s anything missing, let us know what you feel are the best news apps for smartphones.