Fixing the state of news in India -- Need Feedback

originalyoakki

originalyoakki

Novice
Hi,

Indian teenager here fed up with the news apps available in India -- all of them either send bs notifications that are not really news/ have crap content (Inshorts) or have terrible UI and tons of clickbait (TOI, DailyHunt etc.).

My friend and I came up with the idea of only posting summarised source backed news without clickbait or sensational headlines. We also divided news based on one's interests -- so you could subscribe to different "streams" that you like. You will ONLY receive notifications based on the streams you subscribe to. We have made an app named "Ooze" and want to improve upon it rapidly.

We're in the early stages and are looking for feedback from the community. The app is available on both Android and iOS and we would love to hear what you think about it.

Link -http://onelink.to/d8ju5r
 
Not bad concept but tough to execute in real honestly. Im guessing you integrate through rss. How do you manage to separate good from shitty clickbait stories, is there human element for this or you depending on AI & ML
I already use feeder or any other feed reader from sources and streams I want. I can configure with keywords as well to get specific stuff on the reader. How does your app better it if we leave UI out of it
 
Hi @puns, I am glad that you tried the app out. We're actually not integrating through RSS primarily due to the variability in news quality, lack of specificity among other things. We're currently 5 people working in shifts to summarise news ourselves 24x7 and also have a bot that summarises articles for us, but the articles have to be approved/edited by us before they are posted. As we scale, we will be hiring more staff and also experiment with crowdsourcing news stories/training an ML model, but that will likely happen much later in the product development stage if people like our app.

The problem we found with rss readers was that you still had to open and read the article to get the important gist of the news, and the articles weren't summarised. Also, feeders can't be specific -- for example, we are planning to add streams dedicated to a major news story, event, etc. that is happening. For eg. streams to track the upcoming assembly elections, a live stream of updates for Apple's WWDC, some press conference etc.

We are open to any other concern, suggestion to improve, or feedback you have!
 
Good Idea.
Installed & I will share feedback through this forum.
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Make a better App Icon.
Not going to share my google account, so uninstalled.
 
nimod said:
Good Idea.
Installed & I will share feedback through this forum.
Click to expand...
Hi @nimod, We DONT send e-mails at ALL. The only reason we need the google account is to keep track of your subscriptions. It was the only effortless common denominator between both iOS and Android users.
 
Last edited:
vishalrao said:
What I meant was I don't install apps on my phone if I can avoid them.
Click to expand...
This is the secret of happiness :)
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originalyoakki said:
Hi,

Indian teenager here fed up with the news apps available in India -- all of them either send bs notifications that are not really news/ have crap content (Inshorts) or have terrible UI and tons of clickbait (TOI, DailyHunt etc.).

My friend and I came up with the idea of only posting summarised source backed news without clickbait or sensational headlines. We also divided news based on one's interests -- so you could subscribe to different "streams" that you like. You will ONLY receive notifications based on the streams you subscribe to. We have made an app named "Ooze" and want to improve upon it rapidly.

We're in the early stages and are looking for feedback from the community. The app is available on both Android and iOS and we would love to hear what you think about it.

Link -http://onelink.to/d8ju5r
Click to expand...
It's called a newspaper or two. Old tech.

Half an hour every day. All the news you need to know. There is a beginning, a middle and an end. After that you are done for the day.
 
One big question ?
How long will this honest news motivation continues ?
What if you receive a big purchase offer from some of your competitors etc. ? or some giant MNCs

Will all your reader again get started with the crap news motives ?
 
Futureized said:
One big question ?
How long will this honest news motivation continues ?
What if you receive a big purchase offer from some of your competitors etc. ? or some giant MNCs

Will all your reader again get started with the crap news motives ?
Click to expand...

Hi @Futureized,

The app was built on top of just one-core value proposition -- no crap, bullshit, or clickbait. While we may grow and continue to gain more users, our core value will always remain strong. Core values never change.

I don't know how to instill trust in you that we aren't doing this for some acquisition or money -- if that was the case, there are many other avenues/ideas to achieve that than starting a news app. However, you do raise a valid point that we will need funds to continue our operations as we expand. For that, we are thinking about various paths that we can take --- convert to a Wikipedia like non-profit and raise money primarily through donations, or take an infusion of funds to continue operations, build other revenue streams to monetize and keep the core app the same, etc.

However, one thing that you can rest be assured about is that our readers will never have to deal with crap news again.

Regards.

blr_p said:
This is the secret of happiness :)
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It's called a newspaper or two. Old tech.

Half an hour every day. All the news you need to know. There is a beginning, a middle and an end. After that you are done for the day.
Click to expand...

Strongly disagree with this. Most newspapers today are full of advertisements and random low-quality news as well. Also, you can achieve the same effect using our app -- just subscribe to the breaking news stream and then wait for our Daily Digest that refreshes after 24 hours and brings you top 10 stories from the past day.
 
originalyoakki said:
Hi @puns, I am glad that you tried the app out. We're actually not integrating through RSS primarily due to the variability in news quality, lack of specificity among other things. We're currently 5 people working in shifts to summarise news ourselves 24x7 and also have a bot that summarises articles for us, but the articles have to be approved/edited by us before they are posted. As we scale, we will be hiring more staff and also experiment with crowdsourcing news stories/training an ML model, but that will likely happen much later in the product development stage if people like our app.

The problem we found with rss readers was that you still had to open and read the article to get the important gist of the news, and the articles weren't summarised. Also, feeders can't be specific -- for example, we are planning to add streams dedicated to a major news story, event, etc. that is happening. For eg. streams to track the upcoming assembly elections, a live stream of updates for Apple's WWDC, some press conference etc.

We are open to any other concern, suggestion to improve, or feedback you have!
Click to expand...

Inshorts does the same thing but you want to be focused and specific . But you link to original content and not summarize which inshorts does.
English news is a niche and your are super niche with curated news. Is there a market for this. Sure. How big is the question. You may have a good product but how do you reach the masses and become popular. It will be through advertising and social media.

The thing in news industry ( I've worked for over 5 years ) is that there are only few ways to be successful
1. Massy chessy content which get Pageviews and hence revenue
2. Focused high value content like NYT, Washington Post
3. Good content but behind a paywall like The Ken
4. Move to regional languages as the large audiences are there.

If you need any help, connect with me personally :)
 
puns said:
Inshorts does the same thing but you want to be focused and specific . But you link to original content and not summarize which inshorts does.
English news is a niche and your are super niche with curated news. Is there a market for this. Sure. How big is the question. You may have a good product but how do you reach the masses and become popular. It will be through advertising and social media.

The thing in news industry ( I've worked for over 5 years ) is that there are only few ways to be successful
1. Massy chessy content which get Pageviews and hence revenue
2. Focused high value content like NYT, Washington Post
3. Good content but behind a paywall like The Ken
4. Move to regional languages as the large audiences are there.

If you need any help, connect with me personally :)
Click to expand...

@puns just to be clear, we summarise and link to the original source both. Would love to connect with you! Is there any platform you prefer?
 
originalyoakki said:
Strongly disagree with this. Most newspapers today are full of advertisements and random low-quality news as well. Also, you can achieve the same effect using our app -- just subscribe to the breaking news stream and then wait for our Daily Digest that refreshes after 24 hours and brings you top 10 stories from the past day.
Click to expand...
There is no beginning, middle and end with an app or news website is there. Its eat all you can and then you stop. That is the difference.

Many times the local paper has stuff i would not look for but its there and at times important. Can't get that on a news site which tends to be more specialised.
 
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