Google released updates to its Google Currents news-curation app March 20, including enhanced audio capabilities, and Minnesota-based American Public Media is taking advantage of them.
The free app, currently available on Android platforms, has a structure similar to those offered by other digital news curators such as Flipboard and Pulse. Users subscribe to feeds from news outlets that appear as simple RSS lists or, if the provider has signed a licensing agreement with Google, as enhanced magazine-style content. Its latest updates include audio playlists and media bars with options to pause and skip tracks. More than 10 million users have installed Currents since its December 2011 launch.
APM announced March 20 that it had signed a licensing agreement to make its flagship programs, including Marketplace, Wits and A Prairie Home Companion, available in enhanced-design format with photos, copy and audio.
NPR and PRI also have audio content featured on the app.