Facebook reportedly launching standalone news app Notify

PanARMENIAN.Net - Facebook is preparing its latest push into news with a new standalone app called Notify that is scheduled to launch next week, with content from dozens of media partners including Vogue, the Washington Post and CBS, the Financial Times reports.

The standalone app will alert users to new stories from professional media outlets as Facebook squares up against Snapchat and Twitter in a battle for mobile news, raising the stakes for media and publishing companies trying to reach the smartphone generation.

It follows a positive response from publishers and readers to Facebook’s Instant Articles, which embed stories in its mobile app. In a sign of its growing confidence in news distribution, two weeks ago Facebook launched Instant Articles to all iPhone users after months of testing the service. Thousands of articles are pushed out every day to its vast mobile audience, with a promise to publishers that faster load times will increase readership and engagement.

Notify, Facebook’s follow-up to Instant Articles, will be made available as a standalone app next week, according to people familiar with its plans. It will feature content from a range of print, digital and video companies, including Vogue, Mashable, CNN and the Washington Post. CBS, Comedy Central and Billboard magazine are also involved.

After reports of early testing for Notify emerged over the summer, Facebook is now giving the go-ahead to a full launch this week. Facebook declined to comment.

May’s introduction of Instant Articles gave publishers including BuzzFeed, the New York Times and the Washington Post a new way to embed stories directly into Facebook’s news feed. Stories appear faster than if users click a link to media companies’ own websites. Publishers can sell ads inside the content themselves, keeping all of the revenue, or let Facebook do so, sharing 30 per cent of the income with the social network.