@marshallk Hey! Really appreciate the feedback - I'll pay more attention to curating more stories covering environment. It's great to know what topics you'd like to tune into so we could deliver more to you. As of right now, we curate the best/most important stories, so this week other topics/events could have taken the forefront. But, I'll definitely make sure the environment and any other topics you'd like get some love and attention.
@marshallk of course (there are some stories waiting for you in Environment...) We're all for giving our users what they want, if you have any other suggestions - I'm all ears!
looks great! what was your original inspiration for building Ausum, @prodissues? What are the biggest differences between early versions vs. what you're launching today?
Hi @samdebrule! I'm the design lead on the product. Thanks for your question!. I can answer for all of us at Ausum. Our original inspiration came from our understanding that we live in a world with an overabundance of information, and it's often difficult to sift through it all to find the most relevant, interesting and credible content..And in the process, it's time taken out of the day.. We wanted to build something that not only surfaces that great content, but also provides people the access to consume it, now with the busy lives we lead.
We were told before from our users that they loved our content, but we were creating more work for them by giving them content they loved, wanting to read it all. So now we've provided those users a way to actually consume it, saving them hours. We feel we've really honed in on the idea of saving time while staying informed. The biggest difference between the early version and this one is that we simplified a lot and we focused on "Refinement", not only in the content , but also in the experience, in the features, in our processs, and even in our closeness to the main need. We hope you'll find that in the app!
Very interesting. Promo link doesnt work though. I use Volv now and like this short form of news consumption. While scrolling I see that some of the news show a few hours ago then some yesterday and then some again few hours so how is it organized?
@nilsej Any chance you try the promo link again (https://apple.co/3MYXGGb) - weird, but it seems to be a glitch in the AppStore... As for content - we constantly updating content across all categories, but some with higher frequency than others. These days for example our content team focused more on World News than other categories. You can get the latest from top publishers by selecting their channels (CNN for example.) This is a premium feature, but you'll have it once redeeming the promo.
UI on the Android version is so different from what's shown in screenshots here. Not seeing options to save / share or read the full story.
Plus the app is bugging out on switching. For example, I listened to some stories, paused the playback, switched some other app for some time, switched back to Ausum. Now nothing plays. I have to force stop the app and launch again to make it work.
Can we please have an option to blacklist some sources? For example, I don't want to get stories from XYZ because I already am subscribed to them in my rss reader.
Hi @vicky_buddie, Yuval here from Ausum. We're still working on the Android version and we'll catch up to all the features we have on iOS soon. Thanks for the idea for blocking certain sources, we'll add it to our ideas list!
@prodissues Bite sized audio news is going to be very productive, congrats on the launch! On average how long does it take the team to summarize and record the audio, after the breaking of a story?
@yassersultan Great question! It depends on the type and length of the article. We utilize both technology and editorial oversight to summarize and record every story. So while news reporting, which tend to be shorter and more fact based might take just a few minutes, longer and more condensed analysis or opinion piece might take a couple of hours to refine.
@prodissues@yassersultan Thanks for the question - I manage the content, and when it comes to breaking news, we could summarize, record, and publish a story within the first 5 minutes. We are super cognizant of the timelines specifically relating to "breaking news." But, we also make sure we're taking a story with the most "meat" so even if a story breaks, it may take a little longer to find the best article covering that story. Let me know if you have any other questions relating to the content process!
Hi @yassersultan, Thanks for the question and your interest! I'm the design lead and always looking for feedback to help us improve Ausum. If you give the app a try, please feel free to send feedback via this form: https://bit.ly/3ueKjJw ... You're also welcome to join our slack group (open to users) and send feedback directly to me or any member of the team: https://bit.ly/3wquSR8 . Thank you again, and great question!
Hey hunters ๐!
Weโre excited for you all to check out our new Ausum app!
Are you:
๐ฅฉ Skimming through news stories, trying to find the one fact promised by the headline?
โญ๏ธ Annoyed by the poor reading experience and amount of ads and pop-ups?
โ๏ธ Donโt have enough time to read and stay informed?
If any of the above resonate with you, then Ausum is your answer!
We built Ausum so you can stay informed in a fraction of the time and while on the go. With Ausum, we read the most important stories of the day, summarize, and turn them into audio briefs so you can get up-to-speed whenever, wherever. We call it Ausum because those audio summaries are truly awesome!
What you can do with Ausum:
Save time staying informed on your favorite topics, such as crypto, tech, world news and more.
Personalized listening feed. You have an uninterrupted listening experience of stories relevant to you.
Download stories to listen offline.
Enjoy a super intuitive experience - install and tap play. No signup required.
We would love for you to check it out and let us know what you think in the comments below.
Oh, and hereโs a gift for all of you hunters - 3-month of free premium, valid until 03/31/2022 - https://apple.co/3MYXGGbYaniv and the Ausum team.
Hi @stefani_kovachevska, Yuval here, I'm the tech lead for Ausum (and an Android user...) We're working on an Android version that will have the same functionality as the iOS version, but we want to get it right so it takes a little longer, but we'll have it out soon. Meanwhile you can download our current version at https://play.google.com/store/ap.... Thanks!
Hi @carlo_thissen ! Thanks so much for the support and downloading the app! I'm design lead on the product and always happy to hear feedback from our users. If you have any, you're welcome to send it via this form: https://bit.ly/3ueKjJw. Another (prob better) option, if you would like to send ongoing feedback as you have it, would be our slack group. It's open to our users who have product feedback. Here's the link: https://bit.ly/3wquSR8. You can message me or Yaniv there too. Look forward to hearing from you! Thanks again for your interest!
This looks awesome! Going to try it out. I generally read Morning Brew, but sometimes that takes longer than I'd prefer, although it's still by far the shortest option out there, and very entertaining. Looking forward to trying this out to see if it can be my quick fix!
@britt_joiner would love for your feedback once you try it out. Indeed, Morning Brew is an inspiration to turning complex information into digestible and accessible format.
@prodissues just gave it a try and im loving it so far! Signed up for the three month free trial offer. looking forward to incorporating this into my morning and afternoon routines!
Hi @britt_joiner! Thanks for the support! I think Ausum can do wonders for that morning/afternoon routine! We're very excited you're trying us out! If you happen to have any feedback you're welcome to send it via this form: https://bit.ly/3ueKjJw. Or if you would like to join our slack group (open to users) for ongoing feedback as you have it, you can use this link: https://bit.ly/3wquSR8 . You can message me (design lead) there ๐ค ! Hope to hear from you! ๐
Cool idea! I'm a former journalist and always found it baffling that so many publications simply transcribed their full articles, posted them as audio, and expected people to spend 5-15 minutes listening to them. Not everyone writes in a conversational style, so summarizing the top news stories from major publications into one-minute briefs is a major time-saver.
@matthew_ritchie We too find that just transcribing an article isn't enough. First it doesn't save time (in fact usually narrated article takes longer to listen to than reading the story...), and second long-form audio article isn't as engaging as, say, a podcast. With Ausum we try to bring the information from the top stories in a format that respects your time, attention and the information from the original story. As a journalist, your feedback on the quality of stories would be very helpful ๐
@prodissues Will do! I'll give them a listen and let you know what I think.
Also, if you're looking for people to do the transcribing/shortening of news stories, if you haven't already done so, you should definitely consider contacting some journalism schools to get some interns. I could see it being beneficial both to your company and young writers who need some real-world experience, as creating briefs like this is very similar to something they'd do in a traditional newsroom w/ stories of the wire, etc.
Hey @matthew_ritchie! Great to hear from someone in the industry, and thanks for the tip ! Yes, we truly believe our 1-minute briefs are a game changer. Like Yaniv said the transcription isn't the solution for what we're solving for. If you give the app a try and have feedback, you're welcome to send it via this form: https://bit.ly/3ueKjJw. We also have a community of users for ongoing feedback in this slack group, if you would like to join it: https://bit.ly/3wquSR8. You can message me (design lead) or any member of the team directly there. Hope you give Ausum a try!
@rrhoover - thanks for bringing up Umano. We rarely truly innovate ๐, which reminders me of Bret Victor The Future of Programming video (https://youtu.be/8pTEmbeENF4)... Your comment on Umano is still relevant - the quality of audio is crucial, and even as ai voices get (much) better, we find that the human voice is way more engaging. @ianmendiola - would love to connect to share notes and learn from your experience!
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