PinkNews The Press Awards Entry: Apps, Platforms & Software. Experimental & Innovation.

In November 2022, we relaunched our mobile apps alongside our website with the aim of making our digital experience more inclusive and accessible. This relaunch allowed us to reimagine our app experience and user capability, putting our app users at the heart of the new product.

The new apps (available for both Android and iPhone) allow our users to not only read and engage with our content that elevates marginalised voices and highlights the diversity of the entire LGBTQ+ spectrum but also allows them to personalise their experience.

Key new features of the PinkNews News app are:

1. Uplifting News Filter

The uplifting news filter is a digital-first that enables our app readers to only see good news stories, in a world filled with increasingly negative news, at the flip of a switch. A Reuters 2021 study showed that 46% of people in the US actively avoid the news, this was up 22% from the year before due to reasons including a lack of diversity, news making them feel depressed and that they did not think or feel that they had any control over the stories being covered. 

2. Personalisation

The PinkNews global audience is highly engaged and ranges from Gen Z to the post-war generation from across the LGBTQ+ community; each is looking to experience PinkNews in a different way that suits them. Within the new PinkNews apps, each person can create a personalised news feed based on their personal preferences, allowing them to get a digital brand experience that suits and serves them best. The PinkNews digital experience via the app offers its audience an accessible and inclusive environment to read exclusive news, interviews, features and opinion tackling LGBTQ+ issues from around the globe.

The PinkNews audience can set preferences, view curated content linked to their desired choices and react to articles using our bespoke emoji reaction tool. By monitoring how PinkNews’ readers respond to articles,  the data can be used to curate content for the wider PinkNews audience. For example, rounding up PinkNews’ most heart-warming stories to share with newsletter subscribers or highlighting the stories that have got the PinkNews audience all fired up on the homepage

Results

Despite the app only relaunching in late November, the initial feedback from our audience has been extremely positive, with the uplifting news filter being a highlight for our audience who have given reviews on the app store including: “The uplifting content only feature is a fantastic addition for helping people with mental health issues — well done for adding it!”.

The innovation shown by the PinkNews team in producing the “uplifting news filter” has also highlighted us as a publisher who is leading the way in a profound way in press articles, including an interview with PinkNews Chief Product Officer Sarah Watson in Press Gazette. Since the re-launch of the app, our app retention rate is 30% (10% above average) with 50% of app users using it more than once a week.

We also recently won Product Development Team of the Year at The AOP Publishing Awards and App of the Year at The Drum Online Media Awards.

Since the re-launch of the app, our app retention rate is 30% (10% above average) with 50% of app users using it more than once a week. Our engagement time is 12 minutes per session and our app store score ranks at 4.6/5.