Ryan Haines / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google is working on a new home screen layout for its News app to simplify navigation.
- These changes were discovered in version 5.120.0.696279761 of the Google News app.
- The redesign merges the “For You” and “Headlines” tabs into a single “Home” tab.
Back in September, the Android Authority team reported on a revamped layout being in the works for the Google News app. At that time, it was evident that Google was experimenting with switching up the tabs in the app’s bottom bar layout. Now, it appears Google has finally settled on a new design.
An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
We stumbled upon the new home screen layout while tinkering with the Google News app version 5.120.0.696279761. The biggest change is a unified “Home” tab, which consolidates the functionality of the previous “For You” and “Headlines” tabs. Instead of juggling between two separate sections, users will now find personalized content (formerly in For You) and top news stories (previously in Headlines) under one roof.
To maintain clarity, Google has introduced chips — interactive buttons within the Home tab — that will allow users to filter their news feed. These chips include the new options for “For You” and “Headlines,” as well as previously available categories like World, Business, and Technology. The remaining two tabs, “Following” and “Newsstand,” have been retained as they were.
As of now, the updated interface isn’t available in the latest stable version of the Google News app. However, given that the redesign seems close to completion, a wider rollout could be just around the corner.