Here are my favorite alternatives to Google News

I have a love-hate relationship with Google News. It's an essential Android app that I use before bed and after I wake up (which is probably bad for my mental health, but that's another story) to catch up on the latest global and local news. However, it does pose some problems, from flooding my feed with paywalled content to spamming me with sites and topics I have absolutely no interest in. And believe me, I tried to steer it in the right direction. So what is there to do? Is there a viable Google News alternative?

Well, it's not actually the bearer of bad news. But that doesn't mean I haven't found other ways to watch the latest stories. In my search for an all-encompassing Google News alternative, I came across several arguably better ways to get my daily news.

Yes, AI is everywhere, but give me a chance to elaborate. This method is my favorite alternative to Google News (and my favorite way to use AI), but Perplexity requires a little more hands-on work.

The key to opening the AI ​​lock is, of course, a command prompt. My super simple prompt that makes Perplexity a Google News alternative looks something like this:

Provide an overview of the (number) of the biggest news stories at (location) during (time period).

There is no “correct” prompt. You can adjust this model to your liking – I often do this to see if the results improve or worsen – but the above largely covers my general needs. What's important is that you can exchange “news” for sports, technology, business or other interests. I've even tried “feel good” messages, which have had particularly heartwarming results when describing dolphin rescues. Below are some more examples of prompts in action:

Once you enter the prompt, Perplexity provides a bulleted list of the stories you discovered, including a brief explanation. What sweetens its usefulness as a personal newspaper is its list Related Queries that allow you to drill down into details about the stories mentioned.

Perplexity also has an edge over platforms like ChatGPT and Gemini because it provides sources for all the information it outputs to the screen. This makes him more reliable as a talking head. It summarizes sometimes extensive topics and encourages you to explore specific articles or topics as desired.

After using this method over the past few days, I've come to love using Perplexity as a news provider. Yes, it's not as easy as opening and scrolling and requires more setup, but it also offers richer, interactive results that I can customize to my needs.

You can use Perplexity through your browser or download the Android app. Although the app will ask you to create an account and log in (this may be better for saving your queries), it is not required.

There's a lot of visual clutter on Google News, but The Brutalist Report (TBR) is pleasantly simple. Essentially, it is a link aggregator that lists stories from some of the top news sources across various topics, segments and headlines. Unlike news apps or RSS apps, there's no way to choose which sources are shown, but I think it strikes a good balance.

As mentioned, its selling point is its simplicity. There are no images, just hyperlinks that lead directly to the respective article. Additionally, these stories are organized by source and then chronologically, making it easier to spy on newer articles. Do you want fewer or more stories? You can also customize the number of links displayed.

Not everyone will like TBR. Hacker News is the top source on the site, making it less useful for those only interested in politics or economics. The sheer approach might turn off those who prefer headlines paired with thumbnails and visual media. Nonetheless, it's an excellent and straightforward way to see what's happening around the world right now.

So how do I use it? Well, it's a website and doesn't have an app; This is where Hermit comes into play.

One of my favorite Android apps, Hermit allows users to turn virtually any website into a standalone app. It offers a built-in ad blocker, a dark mode theme, and various crafting tools and optimizations. More importantly, I can pin TBR to my home screen as an “app.”

To turn The Brutalist Report into a web app with Hermit:

1. Open hermit.
2. Tap Create button at the bottom right of the screen > Create your own.
3. Enter The Brutalist Report URL and press Enter.
4. Knock Create a Lite app.
5. Name your shortcut and tinker with the icon if necessary and make sure that Add to home screen The check box is checked. Then strike OK.
6. The Brutalist Report will now appear on your home screen and can be moved like an app.

You can do this with any website, including other new websites that you visit frequently.

TBR is free, but there is a premium version for those who want additional tools and optimizations. Hermit is also free for Android, but the premium version offers some additional tools for power users.

How about an alternative that I suggested years ago? RSS readers are no longer as popular as they once were, and that's understandable. RSS feeds are no longer easy to find on websites, and feed links often lead to a shortened version of the article.

However, collecting RSS feeds is still a powerful way to curate your own digital newspaper. This is arguably the best way to create your own daily overview that you can tinker with and continually evolve over the years.

Here are some of the RSS readers I would recommend:

• Read yourself This open source reader is great if you already have a list of RSS feeds and don't need instructions. It offers a clean design with minimal clutter and no ads.
• Feedly: Feedly offers its users many sources organized by industry, beats and topics. It also has a useful Read Later feature, a global search option, and support for Reddit feeds and newsletters. Feedly is great for power users or RSS feed beginners.
• Inoreader: A boon for power users, Inoreader offers a variety of automation tools, from article rule actions to a word and phrase highlighting tool. Like Feedly, it also offers a content discovery feature and a useful “trending” stories list hidden within. Funnily enough, Inoreader also offers support for Google News custom feeds.

Finally, we come to the limited number of real Google News alternatives, none of which I particularly like. Like Google News, these apps collect and present a digital newspaper full of articles that you might find interesting or that are causing a stir around the world.

I didn't find an alternative to the Google News app that I liked, so this is my least favorite way to catch up on news. Still, some offer clever ways to present content, mimicking magazine flipping or presenting videos alongside text.

Here are some of the Google News alternatives you can try:

• Opera news: Opera News is the only app I've tried that comes close to competing with Google News' local reporting. However, much of the content outside the top of the home feed (particularly the For You tab) contains low-quality clickbait and spam. A recommendation is therefore not possible.
• SmartNews: SmartNews is a surprisingly solid alternative to Google News. There is a simple tutorial to help you focus on your locale. Within the app, different tabs separate the biggest issues, while a bar below shows top stories and individual sources. I appreciate that each story opens in reading mode, and I like the push notification option that allows morning, midday, evening, and evening recaps. Although the app contains advertising, it is not too intrusive.
• Flipboard: I've always liked the idea of ​​Flipboard. A digital magazine that offers a satisfying screen swipe mechanic? Sounds great. Feels great. However, this advantage is also one of its disadvantages. This makes Flipboard less useful for keeping up to date with urgent events.
• Squid news: Squid is another highly recommended news app that offers curation of different feeds, a read-later option, and a handy multi-language selection tool. However, it's not really available in my country, which means it's a personal no-go.
• Press reader: PressReader is a good option for those who can't quite let go of newspapers. It's an e-reader, but exclusively for magazines and some of the largest newspapers in the world. There is a small selection of free titles, but many major news outlets require the premium version of the app, which is quite expensive. Still, this is a great app for larger displays like tablets or foldable phones.
• Your favorite news source app: There is always the option to download the dedicated app of your favorite news source, be it the BBC, New York Times, WaPo, etc. My favorite is the AP News app. It's smooth, the coverage is balanced, and it's easy to use. However, I would still recommend using an app that offers broader source support than a single source app.