Presenting a different kind of news app
Published at | Updated at
We have an app. You should download it.
But why should you bother? Why can’t you just visit our website?
Thanks for downloading the EastIdahoNews.com app! Here’s what you need to know.
When we designed our app, the No. 1 thing we didn’t want was a subpar version of what we were already offering. It’s good to have an app. It’s better to have one that’s useful and flexible.
For iOS and Android. And it’s free.
Here’s what you’ll get:
Relevant notifications
We take this feature very seriously. We want to keep you informed and safe, so we notify you of local breaking news as it happens.
If we wake you up in the middle of the night, it will be for news that cannot wait. Barring catastrophes, most of the breaking news alerts you get from us will be local and sent during regular waking hours.
Plus, we have a section for the latest notifications if you accidentally swiped past one you wanted to read – just tap the bell icon.
Simple interface
We respect your time. Large menus are terrible.
Categories that matter
We realize not everyone who lives in, say, Rexburg cares what is happening in Pocatello and vice versa. Here are the sections:
- East Idaho with these subcategories: All Local (everything in East Idaho), Idaho Falls, Rexburg and Pocatello. Swipe to change locations.
- Regional News
- National News
- Crime Watch
- Voices of East Idaho (our columnists)
- Submit a Tip
Control over content
We can style text (like changing color and size) and display images inside articles (as opposed to just the one at the top), which is, believe it or not, something not every news app is able to do.
Plus (and here’s where I geek out a little), we can produce content that will display only inside the app or only on the website.
For instance, the beginning of this article is worded slightly differently in the app since people reading it there have already downloaded it! Go check it out and see for yourself.
For instance, check out this story as it appears on the website – the beginning is worded differently. We don’t need to encourage people reading this on the app (like you) to download it!
This means if needed, we can customize our articles for both the browser and the app. Again, we don’t want users on either platform having a blah experience.
The future
So what does this mean for the website? Nothing. As far as we can foresee, we’ll be bringing you the latest local news on the website and app until the end of the universe.
And when that happens, we’ll be sure to send an alert to your phone.
Robert Patten is a web developer for EastIdahoNews.com. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.