Yahoo! launches iOS news app

Yahoo! has released its new iOS app. The app displays news in what the company calls an "endless stream" of stories. When you start using the app, it starts showing you only stories that you would be interested in. You can grab the app from the iOS App Store. At the moment, the app is only available to US users.

Yahoo! seems to be using technology by Summly, the recently-acquired start-up. It uses imagery to show its stories, with each story's background being a screen-length picture. The app is also said to have better search for both video and images. You can subscribe to different categories and the app will then show you the relevant stories belonging to your subscribed categories.

The new Yahoo app uses Summly's technology

The release of the app comes in the wake of Yahoo's announcement of it shutting down some of its services. Services including Upcoming, Yahoo! Deals, Yahoo! SMS Alerts, Yahoo! Kids, Yahoo! Mail and Messenger feature phone (J2ME) apps and older versions of Yahoo! Mail are getting the axe. The decision to shut down these products is a part of its big plan to focus the company’s energy on building products that can be a part of users’ daily habits.

April 30 onwards, the company won't support the Upcoming API. Those who have uploaded events to Upcoming can click here to download their information. Users will also have to pull out and save their coupons as Yahoo! Deal gets the axe. To save the coupon information, they will need to copy and save coupons to a text file on their computer. Click here to follow the complete instructions for saving coupons. Yahoo! will also bid goodbye to the SMS Alerts service. Those who get mobile horoscope alerts can get the same on yahoo.com. Users can also choose to receive alerts via email or Yahoo! Messenger by visiting alerts.yahoo.com and activating the option.

Yahoo! Kids, or what was earlier known as Yahooligans, will be shut too. However, the company promises to introduce new services. For instance, users who are under 13 years can register for a Yahoo! ID through its Family Accounts program to connect with family and friends via Yahoo! Mail and Messenger.

It will also shut down Mail and Messenger apps for feature phones (J2ME). However, feature phone users can access these services via mobile web. On the other hand, it is focusing on smartphones with Yahoo Mail apps for iOS, Android and Windows 8, and Yahoo! Messenger apps for Android and iOS. Yahoo! also bids goodbye to older versions of Yahoo! Mail, starting June 3, 2013. Users will have to switch to the new Yahoo! Mail.