This morning, Apple launched a new initiative called the “News Partner Program” that will work alongside with the Apple News app.
Apple says the program, “aims to ensure Apple News customers maintain access to trusted news and information from many of the world’s top publishers, while supporting publishers’ financial stability and advancing efforts to further media literacy and diversity in news coverage and newsrooms.”
The new News Partner Program will be curated from “subscription news publications.” These same publications and media entities make their content available in Apple News Format (ANF), which provides for the one-of-a-kind look and feel of the Apple News app, as well as giving all users access to the news from that news source.
News outlets are also allowed to advertise on the platform and keep 100% of the revenue they make from Apple News.
Additionally, Apple News is now offering a 15% commission rate from in-app purchase subscriptions starting on day one.
Eddy Cue, the senior vice president of services at Apple, said this will make journalism better for both readers and publishers.
“Providing Apple News customers with access to trusted information from our publishing partners has been our priority from day one,” he said. “For more than a decade, Apple has offered our customers many ways to access and enjoy news content across our products and services. We have hundreds of news apps from dozens of countries around the world available in the App Store, and created Apple News Format to offer publishers a tool to showcase their content and provide a great experience for millions of Apple News users.”
Starting today, publishers are able to sign up for the new News Partner Program. They can also view the eligibility and requirements below.
- Participants must maintain a robust Apple News channel in Australia, Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom, and publish all content to that channel in ANF. For publishers based outside of these regions and who do not publish in ANF, they must share content via an RSS feed as permitted by their rights.
- The primary function of a publisher app must be to deliver original, professionally authored news content.
- Publishers’ apps must be available on the App Store and allow users to purchase auto-renewable subscriptions through Apple’s in-app purchase system.
- Publishers must agree to a separate addendum to the Apple Developer Program License Agreement.
- The News Publisher Program is available to Apple Developer Program members globally.
To begin the process of signing up for the Apple News Partner Program, simply click here.
The Apple News app is available on the iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac. Apple News+, which is the company’s service for digital magazines, newspapers and audio stories, costs $9.99 a month.
What are your thoughts on the Apple News Partner Program? How often do you use the Apple News app? Let us know on Twitter at @appleosophy.
