18 - News App Critique

 Whirpul

Whirpul is a news app that "transforms the way you stay informed without the clutter," as its description states in the App Store. The app works as an aggregator for various well-known news sources, such as New York Post, ABC News, and Fox News, to name a few. The app is active on a multitude of social media websites, including X, TikTok, Facebook, Reddit, and Instagram. With free access to a number of articles from all sides of the political spectrum, Whirpul acts as a streamlined tool to stay informed on current happenings around the world, all in one place. 

Within the Whirpul app, there are multiple tabs that you can click through in order to find an article within a specific topic. These tabs include: Popular, Politics, Business, Entertainment, Health, Science, World, and Sports. The app, which was recently developed, does not support many features that other news apps do, such as a search bar, a subscription service, location-specific news, audio listening, and a following tab, among others. 

A screenshot of the "Popular" feed on the app. 

By creating an account, you are able to access some other features, such as liking, commenting, sharing, and the ability to "suggest a source" that you would like the app to add to your feed. Interacting with articles that you are interested in through these features is what curates your algorithm to better fit the posts that you want to see. 

A screenshot of the "Suggest a Source" tab on the app. 

My critique of the app has to do with its basic interface. Although it shows a plethora of news sources from across the spectrum in one hub, it lacks many interactive features that make news-reading more convenient and personalized. There are not any search options for users who are looking for a specific story or source; they simply have to scroll in hopes that they will find something in regards to what they are looking for. 

In addition, many other mainstream news apps have a component where you can choose what types of articles you are interested in so that its algorithms can better adapt to your interests. Whirpul, on the other hand, only has eight broad topic tabs to choose from. 

Furthermore, Whirpul does not contain any links to the original articles that are posted, so, unless you search for an article yourself outside of the app, there is no way to confirm whether it is real or not. This almost defeats the purpose of having all of the news sources in one place and diminishes the reputability of the company. 

A screenshot of one of the articles featured on Whirpul, from The Daily Caller. 

Overall, while I do appreciate that Whirpul allows users to see a variety of different sources all at once, I do not think I would use the app on a day-to-day basis for news. There are far more user-friendly applications to find news on. I believe that, with more development, the app could improve greatly and become more popular among news-readers.