However, anyone accustomed to getting their news from the Internet will be slightly disappointed at the limited selection of news sources and the lack of keyword search or custom news categories.
- Free download
- Easy to read
- Offline access
- Limited news sources
- No custom categories
- No custom search
- Categories: Express News uses typical news categories, such as General Headlines and Entertainment Headlines.
- International: Express News comes in six European languages.
- News Sources: Express News gathers articles from news wire services such as the Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.
- Offline access: The Get All Stories button is designed to let you download stories for offline accees.
- Text sizes: Stories can be viewed in a variety of text sizes for easier reading.
- Landscape view: Tilt the screen sideways to read stories in landscape mode.
- Share: You can email or text message stories to your friends. There is no Twitter option at this time.
On one hand, that means you only read stories from reliable sources. You don't have to weed through blog articles and other less reputable sources. There are also several favorite syndicated columns in the mix, such as Dear Abby and News of the Weird.
On the other hand, you also miss out on quite a few reputable sources that are not included. (Full disclosure: About.com is owned by one of those reputable sources, The New York Times.) You also miss out on local news coverage.
There's also no way to search articles or create custom topics, so if your news interest is slightly obscure, such as "coin collecting," you may not find many news items. What you do find will be due to chance, and you can't drill down to find related articles for a particular news item.
If, however, you want a tool for tracking current events and general headlines, Express News will do nicely. It's fast, easy to read, and even has an included help menu. Best of all, it's free.
