The News app collects all the stories you want to read, from your favorite sources, about the topics that interest you most. Apple News+ subscribers can also access features like audio stories, puzzles, and recipes. But just like any other app, the News app can trouble you at times and stop working on your iPhone.
Some users have reported that Apple News keeps crashing. Other users have stated that Apple News+ won’t load on their iPhone, it just spins. Other users have complained that the News catalog, individual channels, or the main Today news feed is not loading, News links are not opening, and that stories are showing the “loading” error.
If you are also having problems with the News app not working on your iPhone, help is at hand. This article explains how to fix Apple News app and Apple News+ not working on iPhone issue.
How To Fix Apple News Not Working On iPhone
1. Close And Reopen The News App
There’s a good chance that Apple News is not working on your iPhone because of a software glitch within the app itself. By closing and reopening the News App, you’ll give it a second chance to open properly the next time you open it.
To close out of the News app, we’ll first have to open up the app switcher. Double-press the Home button, if your iPhone has one. If your iPhone doesn’t have a Home button, swipe up from below the bottom to the center of the display. Hold your finger in the center of the display until you see the menu of the apps currently open on your iPhone.
To close out of the News app, swipe it up and off of the screen. You’ll know the News is closed when it no longer appears in the app switcher.
2. Make Sure Region is Set Correctly on Your iPhone
If you can’t find News app on your iPhone, this is because Apple News and Apple News aren’t available in all countries or regions. Apple News is available in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
You can check if the region is set correctly on your iPhone by going to Settings > General > Language & Region.
3. Make Sure You’re Connected To Wi-Fi Or Your Cellular Network
You need a Wi-Fi or cellular connection to view the latest News content. Apple News+ subscribers can access downloaded content in Offline Mode, even without an internet connection.
To make sure Wi-Fi is turned on, start the Settings app on your iPhone and tap Wi-Fi. Turn on the switch next to Wi-Fi. Below the switch, you should see the name of the network you’re connected to!
To check your cellular connection, start the Settings app on your iPhone and tap Cellular. Make sure the switch next to Cellular Data is turned on. Next, tap Cellular Data Options > Roaming and turn on the switches next to Voice Roaming and Data Roaming.
4. Check if there’s Apple News Outage Today
There’s a good chance that the Apple Server’s for news are down. You can check if there’s Apple News outage today by visiting Apple’s System Status website.
If you see a green dot next to “News,” the News servers are up and running. If not, it’ll be in red. Once you’ve verified that the Apple News servers are up and running, you can proceed to other solutions below.
5. Restart Your iPhone
If Apple News is still not working on your iPhone, try restarting your phone, which will allow of all of its background programs to shut down normally.
If your iPhone doesn’t have Face ID, press and hold the power button until slide to power off shows up on the display. Then, swipe the red and white power icon from left to right to shut down your iPhone.
If your iPhone has Face ID, press and hold either volume button and the Side button simultaneously until you see slide to power off shows up on the display. Swipe the power icon from left to right to turn off your iPhone.
Wait about 20 seconds, then turn your iPhone back on by pressing and holding the Side button until you see the Apple logo shows up in the center of your iPhone’s display.
6. Update Your iPhone
News app may not be working because of an iOS bug. iOS updates can fix bugs, introduce new settings, and improve native apps like News.
To check for an iOS update, open the Settings app and go into General > Software Update. Tap Update Now if a new iOS update is available.
7. Turn Off VPN
If you use a VPN, it could be preventing your iPhone from loading News.
While VPNs are great for protecting your personal identity online, they can cause internet connectivity issues when configured incorrectly. It’s also possible that your VPN is making it appear you’re trying to access Apple News from a different country or region. Open the Settings app on your iPhone and tap the switch next to VPN to turn it off.
8. Check iPhone’s Date & Time Settings
Incorrect Date & Time settings can cause a ton of issues on your iPhone, as they can trick your iPhone to think it’s in the past, future, or a completely different time zone. So, to fix News app not working on iPhone issue, set the date and time settings on your iPhone correctly for your location. Start the Settings app on your iPhone and go into General > Date & Time. Check to ensure your iPhone is set to the correct Time Zone, and that the date and time are correct.
You may also want to turn on “Set Automatically” if it isn’t already. This will help prevent Date & Time settings issues from occurring in the future.
9. Turn Off Low Power Mode
It appears that Low Power Mode may cause Apple News app not to work on iPhone. To turn off Low Power Mode: start the Settings app on your iPhone and go into Battery.
10. Reset Network Settings
If a poor Wi-Fi connection is the reason why News is not loading on your iPhone, it’s time to try resetting your iPhone’s network settings. This will reset all your device’s Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Cellular, and VPN settings to their factory defaults.
When you connect to a Wi-Fi network after resetting network settings on your iPhone, it’ll be like you’re connecting to that network for the very first time. This completely fresh start will often fix the software problem that prevented your iPhone from connecting to Wi-Fi in the first place. It will also reset any settings you may have changed that could be interfering with Apple News loading without you knowing.
Note: Before resetting network settings on your iPhone, it’s important to write down all your Wi-Fi passwords, as you’ll have to reenter them after the reset is complete.
To reset network settings on your iPhone, head over to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset Network Settings. Enter your iPhone’s passcode, then tap Reset Network Settings to confirm your decision.
11. Give Apple News a fresh start
If you’ve tried all the above fixes but the Apple News is not loading, your iPhone may be having more complex software issues. These problems can be difficult to track down, so we’ll give the News app a completely fresh start. Follow these steps:
- Turn off Apple News in iCloud (Settings > your name > iCloud > News.)
- Delete News. To do this, press and hold on the News app icon on the Home screen or in the App Library until the drop down menu appears. Tap Remove App > Delete App > Delete.
- Restart your iPhone
- Re-download News.
- Before you open News, turn off your wifi.
- Open the News app. It will tell you it is not connected to the internet
- Turn on your wifi again. Apple News should start syncing and load up. DO NOT turn iCloud News again, this recreates the spinning problem
This gives you a working install of News+ on your iPhone, but without the syncing across devices. You can re-select magazine again and enter subscriptions etc. I’ve been through this cycle a couple of times (I made the mistake of turning News on again in iCloud the first time) and it looks to be repeatable. Not ideal, but if it works for you, at least you have got some of your functionality back.
Successfully FixedApple News Not Working on iPhone
You’ve fixed the problem with the News app on your iPhone and you can start reading your favorite stories! We hope you’ll share this article on social media to show your friends and family what to do when News app is not working on their iPhone. If you have any other questions, feel free to leave them below in the comments
