FactsLane 1.8: a personal audio edition of your news

FactsLane today released version 1.8 of its news app for iOS, adding a personal audio edition: an episode built on request from the topics, people, companies and places a user follows, and told by two hosts. The update is available now in the App Store, with an Android rollout following.

Most news apps ask readers to find their own way through a flood of stories. FactsLane starts from the opposite end. People choose what matters to them, and FactsLane keeps them caught up on it, to read or to listen to. The personal episode is the audio form of that idea. It is created when the user asks for it, reflects what has happened since the last one, and does not repeat what the user has already heard. Listeners can choose the hosts, set how they are addressed, and keep an episode to calmer stories.

Version 1.8 also reorganizes audio around a new hub that brings together daily digests, the weekly Good Week, Science Week and Tech Week shows, and personal episodes. FL Plus members can download episodes for offline listening, and credits for additional personal episodes can be bought in the app. A redesigned onboarding, a What's new screen after each update, listened marks and a notification when an episode is ready complete the release.

"Audio is the most honest test of personal news: you can't skim it, so every minute has to be about you," says Artem Kolesnikov, founder of FactsLane. "In 1.8, each episode is built only from what you chose to follow, and only from what has happened since you last listened."

FactsLane is available on the web at factslane.com, and on iOS and Android. Version 1.8 is available now on iOS, with the Android rollout following.