Announced back in June, Google News on Android is rolling out a redesigned Following feed that provides the “latest updates from the topics, sources and locations you select to follow.”
Update 2/8/24: After a long wait, this feature is now also available in Google News for iOS.
Original 8/22/23: Google News has long let you follow Topics (like World, Technology, Health, etc.), Sources (publications), and Locations (cities). Those interests would be used to tune what appears in the main “For you” feed.
Previously, the “Following” tab just listed everything you followed. Now, it’s home to a new feed with cards for all your Topics, Sources, and Locations. Each contains three top stories with headlines, cover images, and when it was published.
Pictures are larger on tablets with four stories going from side-to-side.
You cannot adjust how the cards are ordered, while each has a link to their main page. A “Recently followed” carousel at the top lets you quickly find something if you don’t want to scroll. Tap on “Library,” which is now the old Following tab, to follow/unfollow sources.
Overall, this new “Following” is a nice way to get an overview of your interests that’s more focused than “For you.” It’s not a lot, but this feed does provide more control than what Google News previously offered.
It follows Google News getting a Material You redesign (even on iOS) and tablet optimizations, as well as modern homescreen widgets.
We’re seeing the redesigned Following feed with version 5.86 of Google News for Android today. Back in June, Google said:
The updated Follow feature will be available globally on Android soon and then expand to iOS later this year.
More on Google News:
- Google will locally remove Canadian news sites from Search, Discover over new law
- Google News Showcase comes to the US
- Google News adds more homepage topics on desktop
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