Google refreshes Play Newsstand for Android and iOS, brings it to the web

Google today announced an overhaul to its Google Play Newsstand app on both Android and iOS and also announced the launch of a web version, at newsstand.google.com. The updated mobile versions will be rolling out over the next few days.

The revamped version of the app immediately presents you with a Briefing of news that Google thinks will be relevant. Below that, there’s a Highlights section that displays articles about topics that Google believes you have an interest in.

Overall the app — which lets you read articles from publications you subscribe to and save articles for later — is now more pleasant to scroll through, with videos, podcasts, and larger images.

“Every story and topic in Newsstand now comes to life in a more engaging, beautiful presentation,” Google Play Newsstand head of product and engineering Sami Shalabi wrote in a blog post.

But the app also has a Data Saver mode, just like Chrome, Shalabi pointed out. Additionally, as Google announced earlier this year, the app loads fast-loading Accelerated Mobile Pages.

The app has more than 100 million monthly active users. Competitors include Apple News and Flipboard, among others.