The new Free Press app takes a different approach to the news

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This article was published 10/03/2017 (3369 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Among our newsroom commandments is the directive that “thou shall ensure what we produce is worth the time and dime of our readers.”

Your time is important and I’m constantly reminding our journalists to keep that in mind. You deserve information that is timely and reads that will be time well spent.  At the same time, in a world where information options abound, we need to ensure you see value in what you have paid to read.

With that commandment in mind, we’ve created a new app and a new Free Press experience for your tablet or your smartphone.

News Break represents a fundamentally different approach in the digital delivery of what our newsroom produces every day for those paying to read us.

In short, we wanted to reduce the friction between what we serve up for our readers and the experience you have of digesting it. So, no ads are going to get between you and the news. Yes, you read that right. Unlike most news apps, we are now offering you an ad-free experience. No interruptions. No fuss. Just you and the news you want to read from the brand you trust.

We’re also changing the online experience by delivering you an information package that introduces a defined start and a definitive end so you know when you are done and can move on to whatever else you want to do with your time. Let’s face it, most online experiences can be a journey down a rabbit hole. Before you know it, you’ve lost your way and there’s no clear ending in sight. What we are offering with News Break is the same sense of satisfaction you used to get when you realized you had finished flipping through all the pages of a newspaper.

Finally, we’ve added two curated options for you in one app. When you want to get up to speed with the latest headlines, swipe through the breaking news portal. When you have the time to lean back and enjoy longer reads and lighter features, you can easily toggle to the news break version. Both are delivered directly to your phone or tablet so you can stay informed, be engaged and share.

The lessons of the post-print world are pretty clear for all to see even if it took newspapers some time to realize it. We know we can’t build a business for the future by relying on the successes of the past. And we recognize we have to find a way to better connect on mobile devices, since that’s increasingly where people are living their lives. That’s why we’ve designed this new reading experience for the largest and fastest-growing segment of our online audience. That’s why we are offering a product that is fundamentally different from the other news websites available.

Every Free Press subscriber — those who pay to read us in print and those paying to read us online — can download News Break free from the App Store.

Give it a try today. And after spending some time with News Break, please give me your two cents so we can better understand how to make your experience with the Free Press as meaningful and rewarding as possible.

paul.samyn@freepress.mb.ca

@paulsamyn

— Paul Samyn is the Free Press editor