Working in PR and communications is not just about creating news but also knowing what is happening in ‘the news’.

Over the last few years I’ve made a habit of turning to Twitter for on-the-go live news updates, but since the bloggers boom plus the fact that every brand, company and personality under the sun now promotes via Twitter, the actual ‘news’ that appears on my feed is heavily diluted to the point of invisibility.

Twitter is becoming more and more dominated by Hashtags, Retweets and Mentions, and less about live headlines breaking. So I turned to my app store for a solution to my need to be connected to the news.

Here are the five apps I trialled along with my personal rating.

Associated Press. Rating: 2/5
I had high hopes for this app as it has won awards over the last two years and promises fast, accurate and trusted news content. The app constantly refreshes so you don’t miss any new developments. The appearance is quite wordy and not as clean and clear as other apps. Also global news is dominant. Disappointing.

Flipboard: Your Social News Magazine. Rating: 3/5
Flipboard takes information from websites, news feeds, and social networks and moulds them into a magazine-styled layout. There’s a lot of information available and links through to websites. This, for me, is more than I need when I want a quick glance at the top news stories. I felt it would use my data and rely upon a fast network connection. I think this app would be great if you have time to browse, preferably with a tablet.

Circa News. Rating: 4/5
Quick news on the go with a daily news ‘brief’ delivered at your desired time e.g. on your coffee break. You can choose to follow particular stories to receive updates throughout the day.  You can use this app without an account and remove categories (such as US news, which I found dominates the content). If you’re on the go, you can read articles offline, too. And if something major happens in the news, Circa will send you a notification.

BBC News. Rating: 4/5
When you download this app you are immediately offered the chance to customise your feed, so you can select your local news and topics of particular interest to add to your ‘My News’ section. The app is clear and easy to use, with a great deal of stories available. You can also stream live news and opt in or out of push notifications.

Yahoo! News Digest.  Rating: 5/5
Every morning at 7am I receive a “Rise and Shine” message with my Daily News Digest. This app sends me the top headlines along with summarised articles, images, Wikipedia definitions, the latest tweets on the subject, and links to related articles. It allows you to absorb the latest news in seconds and is beautiful in design and a pleasure to use. It uses very little data and is definitely the app I will keep post trial.

If you need help spreading your news story in the digital media, please feel free to call us on 01926 832395 and chat to one of our account managers about the ways we can work together.