Should I Build It Should I Build It
20 Apr 2025
News Productivity

news app without bloatware simple and users can bookmark articles and ...

...see it in list

Confidence
Engagement
Net use signal
Net buy signal

Idea type: Swamp

The market has seen several mediocre solutions that nobody loves. Unless you can offer something fundamentally different, you’ll likely struggle to stand out or make money.

Should You Build It?

Don't build it.

Your are here

You're entering a crowded space with your news app idea. The 'Swamp' category, where your idea fits, suggests that many have tried and failed to create a truly loved news app. There are 21 similar products which means significant competition. The average engagement is low, so you really need to think about how to stand out and make people care to use your app. Your idea of a simple, bloatware-free news app with bookmarking is appealing on the surface, but you'll need to dig deeper to find a unique angle and give users a reason to switch from their current news sources. While there were no explicit net use or buy signals, this is to be expected since many products don't get much user feedback at all. Your goal is to find out what the popular ones do better, and avoid the mistakes and flaws of the less popular ones.

Recommendations

  1. Dive deep into understanding why existing simple news apps haven't become mainstream successes. Don't just look at their features; analyze their user acquisition strategies, monetization models, and the specific needs they tried to address. Look for patterns in user feedback to understand the recurring pain points with existing solutions, then you can offer a truly differentiated solution.
  2. Identify a niche audience that's currently underserved by mainstream news apps. This could be based on specific interests, geographic location, or demographic group. Tailor your app's content and features to meet the unique needs of this audience, and become the trusted source of news for them. For example, focus on a specific region, or topic.
  3. Instead of directly competing with established news providers, consider building tools or services that enhance their existing offerings. This could involve creating a platform for news aggregation, analysis, or personalization that can be integrated into other apps or websites. This could provide some sustainable differentiation.
  4. Before investing significant time and resources, explore adjacent problems related to news consumption that might be more promising. This could involve developing solutions for combating misinformation, promoting media literacy, or creating alternative news formats. The launch discussions for 'Vanilla News' highlight the desire for factual content and less opinionated reporting - perhaps you can focus on offering a truly neutral news source.
  5. Given the competitive landscape, prioritize building a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) with just the core features of your app: bloatware-free news, simple bookmarking and list views. Launch quickly and gather user feedback to iterate and improve. This will allow you to validate your assumptions and avoid wasting time on features that users don't want.
  6. Pay close attention to the user experience. The launch discussions for 'Dead Simple News' and other similar apps highlight the importance of ease of use and intuitive design. Make sure your app is visually appealing, easy to navigate, and provides a seamless reading experience. Don't force users to create an account before they can explore the app's content.
  7. Address the concerns of data privacy and ad policies that are common among users. Be transparent about how you collect and use user data, and avoid intrusive advertising practices. Instead, explore alternative monetization models such as subscriptions, donations, or affiliate marketing.
  8. Actively engage with your users and respond to their feedback. Create a community around your app where users can share their thoughts, suggestions, and concerns. The launch discussions for 'Pocket' highlight the importance of ongoing development and feature updates to keep users engaged.

Questions

  1. What specific problem with existing news apps are you trying to solve, and how does your solution provide a significantly better experience for users?
  2. How will you differentiate your app from the numerous other news apps in the market, and what unique value proposition will you offer to attract and retain users?
  3. Given the low engagement observed in similar product launches, how will you create a strong community around your app and encourage users to actively participate and provide feedback?

Your are here

You're entering a crowded space with your news app idea. The 'Swamp' category, where your idea fits, suggests that many have tried and failed to create a truly loved news app. There are 21 similar products which means significant competition. The average engagement is low, so you really need to think about how to stand out and make people care to use your app. Your idea of a simple, bloatware-free news app with bookmarking is appealing on the surface, but you'll need to dig deeper to find a unique angle and give users a reason to switch from their current news sources. While there were no explicit net use or buy signals, this is to be expected since many products don't get much user feedback at all. Your goal is to find out what the popular ones do better, and avoid the mistakes and flaws of the less popular ones.

Recommendations

  1. Dive deep into understanding why existing simple news apps haven't become mainstream successes. Don't just look at their features; analyze their user acquisition strategies, monetization models, and the specific needs they tried to address. Look for patterns in user feedback to understand the recurring pain points with existing solutions, then you can offer a truly differentiated solution.
  2. Identify a niche audience that's currently underserved by mainstream news apps. This could be based on specific interests, geographic location, or demographic group. Tailor your app's content and features to meet the unique needs of this audience, and become the trusted source of news for them. For example, focus on a specific region, or topic.
  3. Instead of directly competing with established news providers, consider building tools or services that enhance their existing offerings. This could involve creating a platform for news aggregation, analysis, or personalization that can be integrated into other apps or websites. This could provide some sustainable differentiation.
  4. Before investing significant time and resources, explore adjacent problems related to news consumption that might be more promising. This could involve developing solutions for combating misinformation, promoting media literacy, or creating alternative news formats. The launch discussions for 'Vanilla News' highlight the desire for factual content and less opinionated reporting - perhaps you can focus on offering a truly neutral news source.
  5. Given the competitive landscape, prioritize building a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) with just the core features of your app: bloatware-free news, simple bookmarking and list views. Launch quickly and gather user feedback to iterate and improve. This will allow you to validate your assumptions and avoid wasting time on features that users don't want.
  6. Pay close attention to the user experience. The launch discussions for 'Dead Simple News' and other similar apps highlight the importance of ease of use and intuitive design. Make sure your app is visually appealing, easy to navigate, and provides a seamless reading experience. Don't force users to create an account before they can explore the app's content.
  7. Address the concerns of data privacy and ad policies that are common among users. Be transparent about how you collect and use user data, and avoid intrusive advertising practices. Instead, explore alternative monetization models such as subscriptions, donations, or affiliate marketing.
  8. Actively engage with your users and respond to their feedback. Create a community around your app where users can share their thoughts, suggestions, and concerns. The launch discussions for 'Pocket' highlight the importance of ongoing development and feature updates to keep users engaged.

Questions

  1. What specific problem with existing news apps are you trying to solve, and how does your solution provide a significantly better experience for users?
  2. How will you differentiate your app from the numerous other news apps in the market, and what unique value proposition will you offer to attract and retain users?
  3. Given the low engagement observed in similar product launches, how will you create a strong community around your app and encourage users to actively participate and provide feedback?

  • Confidence: High
    • Number of similar products: 21
  • Engagement: Low
    • Average number of comments: 2
  • Net use signal: 13.1%
    • Positive use signal: 21.2%
    • Negative use signal: 8.1%
  • Net buy signal: -2.4%
    • Positive buy signal: 2.1%
    • Negative buy signal: 4.5%

This chart summarizes all the similar products we found for your idea in a single plot.

The x-axis represents the overall feedback each product received. This is calculated from the net use and buy signals that were expressed in the comments. The maximum is +1, which means all comments (across all similar products) were positive, expressed a willingness to use & buy said product. The minimum is -1 and it means the exact opposite.

The y-axis captures the strength of the signal, i.e. how many people commented and how does this rank against other products in this category. The maximum is +1, which means these products were the most liked, upvoted and talked about launches recently. The minimum is 0, meaning zero engagement or feedback was received.

The sizes of the product dots are determined by the relevance to your idea, where 10 is the maximum.

Your idea is the big blueish dot, which should lie somewhere in the polygon defined by these products. It can be off-center because we use custom weighting to summarize these metrics.

Similar products

Relevance

Dead Simple News - Life is complicated, your news shouldn't be

29 Sep 2023 News Productivity Tech

Let's face it, most news apps are a pain. They're packed with clickbait thumbnails and visual clutter that makes reading the headlines feel like a chore. We fixed that. Join 20,000+ subscribers and get the headlines sent to your inbox every morning.

The launch received positive feedback with users congratulating the team and expressing excitement about the product's concept. Users appreciated the minimalism and ease of use, with one suggesting it's simpler than Instagram. A suggestion was made to allow topic selection before email subscription.

Users criticized the product for requiring an email address before allowing users to select topics, contradicting the product description's promise of topic selection beforehand.

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Relevance

News – Personalized Feed Reader for Android

26 Mar 2024 Android News

Hello everyone!Your News is a personalized RSS Feed reader that helps you only consume the news you want to see.Currently, Your News has the following functionalities:- Dedicated buttons to add YouTube and RSS feeds. - Search for RSS feeds using the feedsearch.dev API. - Categorizing RSS feeds. - OPML Import. - Mark as favorite/read later. - Keyword filters. - Dark Mode. - YouTube video player without ads.I want to add more features in the upcoming versions, like widgets and notifications. In the future, the application will also be available on iOS, the web, and desktop.I hope the application can help you stay up-to-date with your news. Have a good one!

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1
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I built a better way to bookmark, read news, blog or any internet texts

05 Oct 2023 Writing Productivity

Users prefer browser-integrated bookmark managers over website-based ones. They appreciate the improved storing UI but note that accessing data could be better. There is interest in self-hosting options and a suggestion to turn the service into a Chrome extension. Additionally, users mention the lack of a screenshot on the homepage.

The product lacks browser integration and the ability to define keyboard shortcuts. Users question how it differentiates from existing products and note the absence of a screenshot on the homepage.

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11
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Relevance

Pocket 8.0 - Your own corner of the web to spend time with great articles

17 May 2023 Android News Audio

Stay on top of your interests, and curate your own space filled with only the topics you care about. Discover and save the latest stories, articles, news and videos from any device, and any publisher or app.

Pocket 8.0's launch on Product Hunt was met with positive feedback, particularly regarding the new Home tab and performance improvements. Users, including both new and long-time Pocket users, congratulated the team on the updates. Some users find the app helpful for filtering information. There were also requests for enhanced features such as a card view for saved articles and more customization options within sections.

Users criticize the slow development pace since Pocket 7.0, with concerns about the platform feeling outdated and buggy. There are requests for specific content integrations like 'Nature' magazine and Medium alternatives. Users also cite a need for improvements in the user interface, specifically mentioning the absence of a card view for saved articles and a general lack of customization options.

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