SmartNews: Local Breaking News 17+

Breaking Local News & Weather

SmartNews, Inc.

    • Free
    • Offers In-App Purchases

Screenshots

Description

SmartNews helps you discover balanced, unbiased stories—for free. Connect with the world around you through editor curation and state-of-the-art algorithms. Whether it's politics, local coverage, sports, or entertainment, feeling good about being informed has never been easier.

Stay in the loop with news from top publishers: NBC News, MSNBC, USA Today, TIME, The Huffington Post, Bleacher Report, Quartz, The Verge, VICE, VOX, AP, Reuters, Buzzfeed, Fast Company.

SmartNews has 50 million downloads, 2+ million 5-star ratings, thousands of trusted publishers, and was the "Best Local News App" of 2022 according to BestApp.com.

INTRODUCING SMARTTAKE
Skip the misinformation, sensationalism, and biased news with SmartTake. A free comprehensive daily digest of balanced information focused on helping you feel good about being informed. Thoughtfully curated by our team of award-winning editors, SmartTake is here to feed your brain—not your bias—with local, entertainment, sports, politics, and science. Say goodbye to endless doomscrolling, and say hello to enriching your understanding of the world around you.

Balanced News
- Get access to stories that are free of bias—no paywalls ever.
- See coverage from every angle and all sides.
-Discover balanced, non-partisan information you can trust.

Political News
- Get prepared for the polls today with top stories from across the political spectrum.
- See trusted political news for free with up-to-the-minute insights.
- Understand political candidates and elections in your local area.

Trusted Sources
-We partner with thousands of credible publishers to bring you unbiased news from all sides.
-Our team of award-winning journalists validates content to ensure it meets our high-quality requirements.
- Read reliable breaking news coverage for your area for free.

Entertainment News
-Get an inside look at entertainment in Hollywood with updates about all things celebrity from movie stars to reality TV
-Discover news about upcoming movies or TV shows featuring your favorite actors.
-Set notifications and follow entertainment topics so you never miss a breaking celebrity story.
-Read news about the Oscars, Hollywood, Movie Stars, Fashion Week, and more.


Local News
-Get relevant local stories from top trusted publishers based on your location.
-Easily learn about the latest coverage and information for your hometown with the Local tab.
-Discover local updates, traffic, events, local weather, new restaurants, family activities, and so much more.

Sports News
-Welcome to your spot for sports stories.
-Get daily articles highlighting the latest games, teams, players, and sporting events.
-Set custom notifications for your favorite teams.
-See news about football, basketball, golf, tennis, soccer, and more.


SmartTake
-Stay informed while prioritizing mental health and advancing overall well-being.
-Get the balanced news in the form of three trending articles delivered straight to the top of your feed for free.
-Easily discover featured uplifting, informative, and important news stories alongside easy-to-digest summaries.

***

SmartNews in the News

"Browse headlines quickly, customize your channels, and read the news offline. SmartNews is an excellent free alternative to other popular news apps."
- CNET

***

SmartNews Awards

Best News Aggregator, 2023 (US)
Lifewire

Best Free News App, 2023 (US)
MakeUseOf

Best News App, 2023 (US)
AndroidCentral

Best Local News App, 2022 (US)
Bestapp

Best App of the Year, 2013 (Japan)
Google

***

Reviews

"Better than Feedly or Flipboard. Love it!" Joe C.

"Much better than the new version of Apple News." - Donald B.

"Been using Google News but this is better. Much easier to share." Nikki H.

"Literally, one of the best news apps… It ranks with the likes of BBC News." -Lorraine C.

*Terms of Service
The SmartNews Terms of Service are linked below. Please read and confirm these terms before using our services.
https://www.smartnews.com/terms/

What’s New

Version 24.3.30

- Performance improvements and bug fixes to enhance your reading experience.

Ratings and Reviews

4.6 out of 5
815.7K Ratings

815.7K Ratings

Zan Wilson ,

Fantastic Function and Fav App but iPhone Capacity Issues

I love the news I get; frequently from cities I didn’t even realize it was tracking for me! Far superior to anything else I’ve ever seen I might be getting addicted this; I spend more time than I think I ‘should’ reading really interesting stuff that’s relevant to me. It’s not a five because it seems to ‘consume’ my iPhone 7 (with max memory)! Here’s what I mean: 1) Frequent pauses/freezes that can last quite a while. Some correct themselves with time, others don’t seem to. 2) Frequently I can’t open iPhone Notes to store an article. It just freezes! This is almost to the point rarely try anymore. But my memory is so bad what’s the point of reading all of this if a can’t save a link to it for later? 3) I was informed by the iPhone that my battery is going bad. However, this App seems to consume tons of power. If I stop using it for a day my ‘power issues’ seem to disappear. If I need a newer/faster iPhone for this app just let me know. If that’s not the issue, any suggestions? Alex PS - I’d like to store direct links to some of the news - is there an easy way to do this? Another suggestion: when I’m done reading an article option to remove from list or retain for a while (I may wish to forward to a friend ...... when it’s daylight again - ha, perhaps I am addicted!

Developer Response ,

Hello,

Thanks for your feedback. Our support team can be reached via support@smartnews.com with information about your device including screenshots, screen recordings, URLs so that our team may investigate. Please be sure you have updated the app to the latest version. If you use a VPN, try disabling it or change server location.

- SmartNews

Hhxfjmcdh ,

Used to be a five star

I’ve checked out many news packages but always preferred this one. Relevant news, good layout, easy to personalize, MODERATE ADVERTISING. There in lies our problem. More and more advertising. Now I understand why they need advertisers, everyone deserves a payday for their work. But while other apps are definitely worse, (every other story is an advertisement), plus they want to make you pay and subscribe to every news outlet, magazine or newspaper, et cetera. Now SmartNews is still better, but they keep coming up with sneaky ways to try and push you into clicking on their advertisers. What really annoys me is when you click out of a story back to the headlines….but it doesn’t take you there. An ad pops up and your forced to respond…. after several seconds so they can force feed you part of the ad, then you have to click a close button, or an X, or something else (“So you don’t want to save $$$?”), always different and in different places on the page so you are forced to read some of it because if you click the wrong spot it throws you out of everything to start over. And it’s becoming more frequent. The almighty dollar chase has ruined more than a few good companies.

Update: I’d like to add that this site just keeps getting worse. I’m looking for another news site. Now they have you tapping tapping tapping on adds waiting for an X to pop up so you can close it out. I don’t need the frustration. I’ll find another app. There are plenty of them.

NubianP6 ,

Stop the Popups!

UPDATE: (I am late posting this, but) within hours of me writing about my issue with pop-ups, the developers actually responded, and within a day or two, the problem was 100% rectified! I love developers who actually take the time to read and respond to the concerns of their customers, so because of that, SmartNews will forever have a supporter in me!

I have been using Smart news several times a day, every day for years now, and I have enjoyed it for the most-part. However, as of January 1, 2021, I am now being greeted by a pop-up urging me to enable location services, which I have no desire to do. It is understandable that the app would request permission for such a feature, but it is requesting permission after EVERY•SINGLE•STORY read! It is beyond annoying and feels like harassment! If this problem isn’t rectified within a week, I will be uninstalling this app. Your readers should be given a choice of which features to enable, and not be harassed when they don’t choose in accordance with YOUR preferences. Update: I am updating my review to reflect a 4-star rating, because I am no longer being bombarded with popups. For everyone who’s whining about the app being too “left-leaning”, perhaps you should search for a Breitbart app, or some other tabloidesque news affiliate...and this is coming from an Independent.

Developer Response ,

Thanks for your feedback. We are currently working to address this issue and appreciate your patience.

-SmartNews

App Privacy

The developer, SmartNews, Inc., indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy.

Data Used to Track You

The following data may be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies:

  • Location
  • Contact Info
  • User Content
  • Search History
  • Browsing History
  • Identifiers
  • Usage Data
  • Diagnostics
  • Other Data

Data Linked to You

The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:

  • Location
  • Contact Info
  • User Content
  • Search History
  • Browsing History
  • Identifiers
  • Usage Data
  • Diagnostics
  • Other Data

Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More

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