Apple News not loading on iPhone

I've been having this exact same problem for months on multiple releases of iOS 13... but the issue doesn't necessarily coincide with an installation of iOS 13 and I think it may be the app itself. (In fact, the app seems to work fine with a fresh install, right up until I restart the app; that seems to be what introduces the problem.)

I have found this "trick" to temporarily band-aid the issue, which I describe in my post here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251632250 (A shame I didn't find your post until after posting mine; I guess I didn't use quite the right search terms.)

Basically use two thumbs to scroll up until all the stories are off the screen until the screen is all white. Then release the screen and stories should begin populating as normal. Restarting the app will reintroduce the problem all over again (and sometimes it does this all on its own). This is not a fix, mind you, just a band-aid until Apple does something about it.

I was having this same problem (over cellular) and it weirdly would load more stories if I turned my VPN on (huh?). I tried your suggestion, Chris, of going to the settings in News... my restrict stories was not enabled, but toggling this on and off seems to have fixed the issue! This might be a weird glitch in 13.6 as it started happening after the update...

Thank you for the suggestion!

I have had this happen to me many times. I finally figured out what was causing it for me: Low Power Mode. When the device goes into this mode, it stops doing certain things that burn a lot of battery. Apparently checking the news is one of them, even when you are in the News app forcing refreshes over and over again. Simply open Control Center and turn off Low Power Mode, and boom! the news comes pouring in. At least this works on my iPhone. Hope this helps you too.

Hey there greggory34,

Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities. We understand Apple News isn’t working as expected. We’ll be happy to help.

Restarting your iPhone is a good step. If that didn’t help, try force closing the app then restarting:

How to force an app to close on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

Restart your iPhone

If the issue continues, check for updates to iOS:

Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

Delete the app, restart your iPhone, and reinstall the app if the issue continues to occur. Then try another network and see if this has any impact on the issue.

We hope this helps.

Take care.

Hey greggory34,

Thanks for trying those steps. Does this happen on both Wi-Fi and cellular data? If you go to Settings > News do you have Restrict Stories in Today enabled? If so, turn that off and see if this makes a difference.

If the steps in If an app unexpectedly quits, stops responding, or won’t open didn’t resolve this, you may want to back up your iPhone, then reinstall iOS using the steps under “If your device turns on but gets stuck during start up” from these links:

How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch 

If your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch won't turn on or is frozen

Regards.

By the way, to try to get Apple to institute a permanent fix, PLEASE file a bug report about it here: hthttps://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html Apple doesn't look at these forums, they only [allegedly] read the bug reports and, I imagine, only do something about the bug reports when enough reports about the same bug are submitted.

Whoops, spoke too soon... back to not working and the toggle isn’t working this time... turning on VPN does eliminate the issue, but if I turn off the VPN and close and reopen Apple News it only loads the Top Stories... so odd

Wow, yep! That trick does indeed work! Works exactly the same as my two thumbs trick above, and once the stories load I can turn Low Power Mode right back on and the app still keeps loading stories normally until I need to do it again. (Usually within a day or two.) Not a permanent fix, but still a lot easier than all that scrolling with two thumbs. Thanks!

I just wish the problem didn't exist to begin with. I've been using Low Power Mode as a default mode for almost two years now without any issue with new stories loading, but this behavior is still relatively new. Next stop: bug reporting.

Make sure to submit a bug report if you’re having this issue... up to 14.0.1 now and still no fix. Thanks to the guy/gal with the two thumb scroll fix because at least that works. Please take care of this soon Apple 🤞🏻

I’m not as tech savvy as I used to be, but what would make turning on a VPN fix this issue? If anybody is having this issue and also has access to turning on a VPN, please see if that also fixes your issue. I am beginning to think this is some type of security bug that is much deeper than just Apple News acting funny, but maybe that’s just the quarantine paranoia that we all have right now talking. 😀

I wanted to say that I am having the same issue. I deleted the app and then redownloaded and the issue still stands. All the info "below the fold" on the Today section will not load on LTE. I tried this on my WiFi network and it seems to load. I guess Apple News + no longer wants my money. Anyone have suggestions on a news subscription/app that works?

So, are we just part of the few people who win the reverse lottery of having an iOS flaw that is never fixed? I’ve done pretty much EVERYTHING at this point. Reset settings, reset phone, full from scratch phone reset, delete app and reinstall... what is the problem here?

Also, if anybody more tech savvy than me reads this, can you explain why turning on my VPN would fix this issue?

Is my cell provider throttling me and/or my Apple News for some reason?

Is anybody from Apple reading these discussions?

I've had this same problem with my 2020 SE since I bought it. It doesn't happen when connected to wifi. The only thing that sort of works is the forced scrolling with both thumbs.

Is it possible that this is a carrier specific issue? I'm with Verizon. Is this issue happening with other carriers?

it is happening on my iPhone 8 and the SE 2020 model. It seems only want to load news with Wi-Fi enabled. There must be an issue with cellular data and I have AT&T and I have four bars of LTE consistently.