ABC News App Gets Redesign, Enhanced Tech, New Features

A reimagined ABC News mobile app launched into app stores today, with new features, technological enhancements and a newly refreshed design and user experience.

The revamped ABC News app is built on Disney’s proprietary technology, product and design platforms – improving speed and scalability, and offering increased flexibility for storytelling. The company said this will also allow the ABC News app “to benefit from new feature and functionality development across the broader Disney digital portfolio — quickly bringing new, innovative features to ABC News.”

“ABC News is the leader in news,” said Lulu Chiang, vice president of ABC News Digital Content. “We are excited the new updates to our signature digital app will deliver new ways showcase our world class journalism, take consumers deeper into our reporting, and add to the way that audiences watch and read everything from breaking news to our industry-leading election coverage and more.”

An enhanced video experience — for both streaming of ABC News Live and for on-demand video — is central to the relaunched app. Enhancements include a new video player, picture in picture and “docking” capability, more seamless integration of ABC News Live, improved EPG and schedule, enhanced video technology and more.

The updated app also introduces “dark mode” to the app for the first time — a highly-requested feature — and delivers “improved search functionality powered by superior algorithm adaptability and an introduction of topical categories to easily focus discovery for all users,” ABC News said.

ABC News editors and reporters will have new flexibility in storytelling, with updated design treatments including new breaking news and home screen takeover experiences, enhanced photo galleries, updated live blog integration and more.

“This latest release is a key step in our strategy to advance our video storytelling on mobile devices,” said Nicole Breskin, vice president, news and entertainment product, Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution. “Critically, the app will also provide new experiences around breaking news and live video to deliver key news coverage when people need it. Our refreshed app is built on our scalable foundation upon which we can innovate and bring ABC News to our audiences in novel ways.”

Ahead of the 2022 Mid-Term Elections, the updated ABC News app will also deliver updates to live, real-time voting result data. In addition, election maps will have new design and interaction, and election coverage in the app will provide historical data for the first time — allowing users to examine results from previous election cycles, setting the scene for upcoming mid-term elections and looking ahead to the 2024 election cycle.

Consumers will also be able to take advantage of Exit Poll Filters, letting them examine data through the lenses of demographic information, location, education level and more to understand what decisions different types and sets of voters have made.

New primary navigation delivers one-tap access to “Watch”, “Explore”, “Listen”, “Search”, as well as an updated “My News” section. Through personalization, the new ABC News app allows users one-tap access to add and change topical interests, and curates those personalized news interests in the “My News” section.

In “Listen” users have an updated and improved library of ABC News audio content — including the Start Here podcast, Good Morning America audio, full episode audio from World News Tonight, 20/20 and Nightline, acclaimed political podcasts from FiveThirtyEight, original feature storytelling and more.