Apple News Plus will reportedly come with an 'Audio' feature in iOS 13.5.5 beta update

Apple seems to be moving ahead with plans to give Apple News+ users a chance to listen to audio stories of some news stories. According to a report in MacRumours, there is an ‘Apple News+Audio’ feature hidden in the iOS 13.5.5 beta. The report states that apart from an icon depicting the Apple News+ Audio feature, there is also an ‘Audio’ icon that integrates a headphone graphic along with a bit of text. The text reads, “Listen to a quick recap of today’s top stories.” [caption id=“attachment_7225361” align=“alignnone” width=“1024”] Apple News+. Image: Reuters[/caption] An earlier report in Digiday had pointed towards Apple’s work on audio versions of news stories. According to the report, Apple had been asking publishers to participate in its programme for permission to produce audio versions of the stories distributed there. The report cited two sources as saying that Apple will handle production costs, and compensate publishers in the same way the company pays them for written content that is available on Apple News+. 9To5Mac reports that while the interface is very similar to Apple News, users will have access to recorded content rather than text. They can tap on the Play button to listen to all the recent news, or choose a specific story to hear an audio version. The report elaborates that once the audio is chosen, the app shows a media player. Users can rewind 15 seconds, skip to the next story, or even adjust the playback speed. Only Apple News+ subscribers will have access to full stories, even though the Audio tab will be visible to all users. For those who are not subscribers, they can only listen to previews of news stories available.