After a long wait, Apple News+ Audio has finally expanded out from the United States to the UK, Australia, and Canada. It only took five years.
Apple has a habit of introducing new features for its U.S. users to enjoy, before rolling it out to other territories. In the case of one Apple News+ feature, that has taken a very long time to happen.
Subscribers of Apple News+ in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom can now access Apple News+ Audio, a section of the News app for listening to stories, instead of reading them. Accessed through the bottom button options and sitting to the far right of Sport, Audio provides a selection of curated stories to listen to on the iPhone or iPad.
The stories, narrated by voice actors, include stories from major publications including New Scientist and Bloomberg Businessweek, among others. Once selected, a new playing interface appears at the bottom of the screen, enabling users to quickly replay the last few seconds or to speed ahead in the audio.
Subscribers don’t have to use the Apple News app to listen to the audio content, as it’s also available via Apple Podcasts. Free Apple News users can listen to previews and a free audio clip.
The Apple News+ subscription is available at $12.99 per month in the United States and is also available as part of the Apple One Premier subscription.
A long sonic journey
The introduction of Apple News+ Audio in the three new countries is somewhat unusual, as it’s a change that hasn’t received much fanfare from Apple itself. It is also a feature that has taken a considerable amount of time to emigrate from the United States to the three other territories.
Apple originally launched Apple News+ Audio in July 2020, landing five years ago to the month in the United States.
While Audio has had a much slower move into other English-speaking countries than anticipated, it’s not the only missing feature.
Though users in the United States can enjoy the puzzles included in Apple News+ since 2023, including the recently added Emoji Game, the same features are not available outside the United States and Canada.
