Apple News has launched in Australia, putting publishers in the hands of local iPhone and iPad users.
Users can get the new platform when they upgrade to iOS 9.1, which has been available since Thursday. Apple News is similar to an aggregation app like Flipboard which brings the latest news to your device in an easy-to-consume format.
Publishers that have signed up locally include Sydney Morning Herald, news.com.au, Junkee, Australian Women's Weekly, ABC, SBS and The Guardian. International publishers include Mashable, The New York Times, The Economist, Huffington Post and The Independent. The content that is fed to Apple News is selected by each publication.
Mashable tested Apple News out when it was in beta phase, and concluded it doesn't disrupt or stand out in the market but it does make for a nice user experience and is a necessary product for Apple to have in its suite.
Sources familiar with the product told Mashable when it launched in the U.S. in September that human curation mixed with an algorithm would see news chosen for readers. This would make the product slightly more tailored than possible with a computer alone.
The business model of Apple News is interesting, as it makes a play to publishers as well as consumers. The company will allow publishers to sell their own ads within the app and take all of the revenue, but if the ad space can't be filled the publisher can choose to fill it using iAd with the standard 70/30 revenue split.
After users update their devices to iOS 9.1, they may need to them on and off to get started with Apple News. The new update also fixes a range of bugs. Here's how to update.