Less than a month after it had acquired Summly, an iOS news app that uses a combination of natural language processing and algorithms, Yahoo has updated its main mobile app for iPhone and iPod touch with the UK startup's new summarization technology. In a blog post, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer outlines her company's continued dedication to mobile, introducing the new version of the Yahoo iOS app, which now features an endless stream of stories, new social and personalization features, and an overhauled search experience.
The new app is currently only available in the US, offering users toggles to select news that they are interested in. It relies on the same natural language processing and algorithms once used in Summly's iOS app — before it was shut down — picking out and delivering the most important parts of lengthy news articles, making them easier to digest on a smartphone. Article pages have been refreshed and now mimic Yahoo's new weather and mail iOS apps, sporting more visual design that the company hopes will generate interest across its entire line of mobile products. The app also boasts improved search features, saving preferences between mobile and the web while offering better results for video and images. At the time of the acquisition, Yahoo said it would work to get Summly's technology into its existing mobile experiences as quickly as possible, suggesting the Yahoo! iOS app is just the beginning of its mission to "deliver the best of the web."