As it gets ready for the 2022 Midterm Elections, ABC News’ mobile app is getting a makeover.
The revamped mobile app, which launches on September 20, will have new features, technological enhancements and a newly refreshed design and user experience.
New features within the app include an enhanced video experience that comes with a new video player, picture-in-picture and “docking” capability, more seamless integration of ABC News Live and more.
Users will no longer be blinded when reading the app at night, as the refreshed app will also include the “dark mode” feature.
Search functionality within the app will also be improved, as it will be powered by superior algorithm adaptability and an introduction of topical categories to easily focus discovery for all users.
For ABC News editors and reporters, the refreshed mobile app will provide them with more flexibility when it comes to storytelling. It will have updated design treatments, including new breaking news and home screen takeover experiences, enhanced photo galleries, updated live blog integration, and more.
The updated ABC News app will also deliver updates to live, real-time voting result data for the upcoming midterm elections. In addition, election maps will have a 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.
“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,” said ABC News digital content vp Lulu Chiang.
“This latest release is a key step in our strategy to advance our video storytelling on mobile devices,” said DMED news and entertainment product vp Nicole Breskin. “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.”
The revamped mobile app has been built on Disney’s proprietary technology, product, and design platforms—improving speed and scalability and offering increased flexibility for storytelling.
This also allows the refreshed mobile app to benefit from new feature and functionality development across the broader Disney digital portfolio—quickly bringing new, innovative features to ABC News.