The very best news app there is. – Microsoft Start Review

July 2018. At one point or another I have used virtually every news app that exists in the App Store… About a year ago I began to settle on MSN News as the best of them though it had some flaws. This latest version has adressed virtually every weakness, and it is really excellent now. The strengths of this app is that it collects news from a wide variety of reputable sources, including both conservative and liberal perspectives. You can also add your own topics, and you can put everything in whichever order you prefer. You can scroll from article to article without having to go back to the main menu, and these articles will fill almost the entire screen. That makes it easy to use and efficient on one’s time. Very nice. One problem I have noticed on self-selected topics is that many articles may repeat one story. For example, I follow Apple as a topic. Out of 32 articles, 7 were about how the Maps app is being upgraded! I’m leaving my five star ratting for now, but MS definitely needs to address this. This app strikes the right balance between text and pictures for the top level menus. The pictures are helpful because they quickly identify what the topic is, but they are small enough to make scrolling quick and easy. The headlines are detailed enough to identify the topic as well. The scrolling both within and between articles is pretty smooth. The font in the individual articles is consistent throughout as opposed to mimicking the original source. Personally, I think this consistency is a plus. Text is in a clear, bold and easy to read type. (Size is adjustable, but only with three options.) Finally, it is reasonably uncluttered as far as advertisements ago, and that is always a big plus. There are advertisements, to be sure, but they are clearly marked “sponsored“, and when you are scrolling through the articles in order, they are skipped. The only way you see them is if you click on them from a top level category or inside an article. Typically, there is only one per category or article. This seems reasonable to me. Overall, this latest revision is really well designed, and is now the very best news app available for those who are looking for reliable information from a variety of sources in a well-designed package, IMHO. Developers also appear to be reading the reviews, and responding to them when they can. This is my number one news app these days. Tip: When organizing your favorites, you will have to put your finger on the selection icon and hold it there for a second or two before you can move it. Another Tip: If you are really interested in international news, you can just change editions. For example, changing to the Canadian edition brings up a great selection of news from across the country within a couple of seconds, much more than you would see simply by adding it as a topic. Very impressive. One improvement: Having the ability to select news sources rather than just topics would be great, but given that there is a good range of perspectives included, I don’t think this undermines the five star rating. Second improvement: it would be nice to have the option to not have to see the “my news“ section or to place it where I want.
Review by Hazeldad on Microsoft Start.