Apple opens News app to all publishers in bid for more readers

Apple has announced that it would introduce some new tools for Apple News that can lure in more writers and editors to the service and also improve it for its current partners. Now anyone, including bloggers, can sign up and monetise their content. A report by TechCrunch pointed out that the News app will not be free-for-all and Apple needs to approve content creators before they have access to publishing tools as well. Apple is currently working to make subscription content available through its News app, giving publishers with paywalls a new way to control who sees their articles.  The move would differentiate Apple News from Facebook’s Instant Articles news offering, which does not offer subscriber-only content, and would likely give Apple a boost as it seeks to distinguish itself from a growing crowd of online news apps. The move comes as news publishers try to figure out how to work with Apple and Facebook, which are important distributors of news content to their hundreds of millions of users, but at the same time are getting between publishers and their readers. By making paid content available through its News app, Apple would give publishers a way to maintain relationships with readers and perhaps attract new subscribers. It is unclear how Apple would authenticate subscribers or if it would take a cut of payments from readers who become subscribers through the app. Recently, a report by Wall Street Journal stated, neither media companies, nor Apple is aware of the number of readers using the app. Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services said the company missed the error, as it focused on other aspects of the product.