In a world filled with fake news and biased opinion, Apple is fighting the good fight. Apple will be broadcasting real-time results of the 2018 elections via its News app. This live broadcast will be conducted in partnership with the Associated Press.
The US elections will take place on November 6th and will be a tightly fought battle between the Republicans and Democrats.
According to TechCrunch, the app will replace the Midterm Elections section with a brand new Elections Night section. This update will go live on November 6th 8 PM Eastern Time. Elections Night section will also replace the Digest tab, at the bottom center of the screen.
Users will be able to view updates on key races, latest polls and updates, and live election results as well. Apple’s partnership with the Associated Press will be a historic move. The Associated Press has a huge staff working around the clock to verify facts and figures while providing exceptional quality journalism on US politics.
Associated Press also has decades of experience working with other news organizations especially those that verify election results. Another section of the News app will show breaking news and top headlines from top news organizations in the US.
These include CNN, Fox News, New York Times, ABC, NBC, The Washington Post, Politico, Axios and many other. Apple was adamant in including a host of news sources. It wants viewers who have differing political opinions to get all their election news right from the app.
You can expect beautifully detailed real-time infographics as well as a complete list of election results across all 50 states. Senate states and House states will be included in these results.
Apple will automatically update the information after every minute.
Users who are impatient can manually update the page as well by merely hitting refresh. If the results are pretty close or there is a change of power in the House or Senate, Apple will send out a special alert.
The special alert will be displayed at the top of the page. Apple will also show a pop-up notification on users’ smartphones.
Other fancy things included are live video feeds from media broadcasting giants ABC and NBC. Apple also clarified that users wouldn’t have to seek permission from their cable providers to get access to this service.
Apple News team won’t cut any corners in providing the latest and most vital news stories on its app. There will be no algorithms or set sequence of news stories that it will display. Instead the news team will be working with real journalists and exceptional editors to cherry pick only the best of the best stories.
It gives Apple a massive upper hand over its biggest competitors, i.e., Facebook, Twitter, and Google. These companies use various algorithms to spread news articles. It more often than not results in the phenomenon known as fake news.
Since there are so many iPhone users in the US, and since the 2018 elections will be one of the most tightly contested in US history, this app will be a lifesaver.
This post was orginally published on: November 3, 2018 and was updated on: July 16, 2022.