BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – The version 3.0 update to the WCAX News app became available in app stores on February 18, bringing with it a new visual style that is different from previous versions. Change can be disorienting, so this story and video are written to help explain how the app works and where to find information which may be in a different position than before.
The new design is built around some basic ideas:
- See the news headlines first
- Make live streaming video easier to find
- Create a streamlined menu for stories and features
The introduction video attached to this story shows where things are inside the news app to help visitors find what they are looking for more quickly.
Home screen / news headlines: This is the main view once the app launches, showing the 20 most recent headlines, just as in previous versions of the app.
What’s new: links to other topic areas, like First Alert Weather or WCAX Sports are embedded in the headline list after the top story. Access to recent news video clips is also integrated into the news headlines after the fifth story, where scrolling up and down shows news headlines, and swiping left or right reveals video clips in the “Latest Video” module. At the bottom of the news headlines, additional “Features” are listed, linking to other news categories, which looks a little different but behaves in similar fashion to the icons from the previous news app design. Like the “Latest Videos,” more “Features” reveal when swiped left and right.
Bottom row navigation buttons: In addition to the Home button for news headlines, three other top-level navigation buttons open various sections.
- Live: this opens the player menu for the five livestreams WCAX provides, most significantly the primary WCAX Channel 3 News livestream and 3 News Now, the 24/7 local weather and news stream with always-on local weather radar, First Alert forecasts for towns and cities across the region and the latest local newscast.
- Alerts: This new feature makes it easier to see the stories WCAX has sent out as push notifications to call attention to them. The alerts section let you see the most recent 20 stories that were highlighted.
- Weather: WCAX produces the exclusive First Alert Weather app as a free download with interactive radar, exclusive video forecast updates from the First Alert Weather team, geotargeted advisories, watches and warnings delivered to you based on your location so you get immediate information for what is happening and what is expected in your location, and hourly and daily forecasts to help you plan. If you already have the app, it will load automatically from this button, if not, you will be prompted to download the app.
Left-hand menu: The three lines visible in the upper-left corner of the application reveal more of the news and local coverage from WCAX than ever before. All of the news sections from WCAX.com are available in menu under news, direct links to the First Alert Weather page on WCAX.com (no app required), WCAX Sports, the 802 News Podcast, special sections like We the People, the Build Your Future initiative and Local Business Spotlight highlight a range local stories from across our region. Visitors can upload images and video as well with the Share Your Photos and Videos link. Many options collected in one, clean navigation.
Other options: visitors can open the settings menu by opening the left-hand menu, then tapping the gear-shaped icon, to adjust notification settings and set dark or light mode, which will make the app appear with a black background and white text in dark mode or a white background with black text in light mode.
A search option is available allowing visitors to run a search of the entire WCAX news database online and find popular search terms and popular news stories.
Yes, there are ads: Advertisements have been redesigned to be standardized in size where they appear in the list of stories, and the ad that appears when the app opens is smaller, with a clear “skip” or “continue” link in the upper right corner of the screen to make the ad position more consistent to navigate past than in the old version of the application. These ads are what allows the application to be available for free, with no subscription or log in required.
Find the WCAX News app in your device’s app store by searching ‘WCAX’.
