Science News & Discoveries – NF - Interview with the developer of a fantastic app

Did you have any prior development or coding experience?

Yes! Newsfusion was founded by Nati Berkover and myself. We both were experienced software engineers and engineering managers by the point we founded the company.

What was the most challenging aspect of developing mobile app?

The challenge for this app was developing the backend. In order to do its job, the app has to deliver ultra-relevant news both in real-time and when you want to review the most relevant from the past few days. To that end, we have developed a unique relevance engine, leveraging our expertise in data fusion, natural language processing, and more. The goal was to develop an AI that emulates a human news editor - no easy feat! This was by far the most challenging aspect of building this product.

_Newsfusion

Newsfusion leverages cutting-edge relevance technology to create tailored news apps for a wide range of passions such as science, technology, entertainment, sports & national news, and more.

Name a few of your favorite apps and reason you love them.

Of course, I’ll refrain from naming our own apps, which I do love! Ha. I generally love apps that empower you as a user; help you enhance your productivity or save you time. Some of my favorites are Google Maps, which in my opinion is very well done, and Wunderlist, which is simple yet effective.

How long have you been working on this app?

We’ve been continuously working on these apps for several years now. Software products are never really “finished” :)

What need of the user did you have in mind when developing this app?

Our goal was to help people fight information overload and consume information on their own terms. We wanted to give people a news experience that respects their time, their priorities, and their intellect.

In what way do you think your app is better than similar apps on the market? Please describe in detail what innovation you think you bring and what you are proud of in your app.

Our apps are geared at people who want to apply a bit more discretion to their news consumption habits and this has always determined the feature set and design of the app. If I had to name one innovation, it’d be the time perspectives: We offer three different ways to look at the news, including looking back in the news over the several past days and display them ordered by importance. This allows you to review the headlines at your own pace. You can disconnect from the unhealthy “always-on” pace of endless updates, while still knowing that you are up-to-date and know all the things that you need to know. I think people are becoming more and more appreciative of how healthy this ability really is.

What are your future plans and expected features of the coming new versions of this app?

Our number one goal is to stay true to our mission. In the never-ending cycle of mobile innovation and updates, it’s easy to get distracted by shiny new features... So our goal is what we like to call, keep focusing on the bread-and-butter. Deliver solid information. Have a reliable, easy-to-use app that puts users first. Feature quality publications that deliver diverse angles on the news. Keep the discussion civil, yet fair and open. It’s not easy to do so, day in and day out. It’s a bit like meditation: If you’re meditating and you feel yourself getting distracted, you should “catch yourself” and immediately put your attention back on whatever you’re meditating on. That’s our goal; if it makes sense.

Assuming new users of your app are reading this page. What do you want to ask them to do (contact you about X, Share the app, etc.)?

First, I want to thank them for giving us the gift of their attention! This alone means so much in this day and age. Of course, we welcome reviews in the store, and await any feedback you might have at [email protected].