Rating: 5/5
Subscription cost: $7.99 per month (without subscription, 10 free articles per month)

Not everyone has the time or the inclination to sit down and read through the New York Times every day. The NYT Now app provides a quick and easy way to access the news. While it doesn’t give readers intricate details about each story, it fulfills its goal of giving them a good idea of what is happening in the world.

Twice every day, once at 6 a.m. and again at 6 p.m., the app is updated with briefings. These briefings set this app apart from The New York Times’ website and main app in that they provide just a glimpse of each top news story. In these briefings, headlines are compiled to reflect the biggest news of the morning along with a couple of sentences for each story. These summaries inform the reader enough for them to engage in an intelligent discussion about the topic, get a better understanding of what is new on the national and international level and spark interest in reading the full stories. The app is also the least expensive way to access content from The New York Times with a subscription.

These briefings have been incredibly helpful to me. I can check the briefing on the bus on my way to class in the morning, observe the top stories throughout the day and then check the second briefing after my night classes are done. I’m not quite ready to pay for a New York Times subscription since RIT provides the print copy for us daily so this is a neat way for me to have some simple mobile access. The only downside to not subscribing is the limited access.

NYT Now also provides photos and links to the biggest stories on its home page. The articles range from hard news to features, sports stories to op-eds. Articles from the newspaper’s new website, The Upshot, are also included. The Upshot is dedicated to giving “a clear analysis of the news, in a conversational tone.”

If you’re just looking for something on-the-go that will keep you informed then this is absolutely the app for you. It’s also useful for any New York Times reader that is looking for a less expensive way to read more than 10 articles per month. If you already subscribe to The New York Times in any other format you can access the entire NYT Now app for free.