My Apple news widget disappeared after updating my phone to iOS 17.4.1

Same for India as well. The app was never available in India, but the widget worked fine until it disappeared suddenly yesterday. I thought it could be that my iOS got corrupted or something and I restored the phone using iTunes. But even after the restore, the News widget is missing. I strongly believe Apple should communicate such or any anomaly to its users via mail/SMS so that users don't get confused and are kept in the dark.

📣 Update:

Someone on Reddit posted about this.

He contacted Apple directly and talked to a senior manager.

The apple guy told him that probably support ended for the Apple News widget in the vast majority of countries where AN is not available as an app.

He also said that there will be news about this on May the 8th. Considering that the Apple event will take place on May the 7th, maybe, just maybe they’ll announce a widespread rollout of Apple News.

But this is just pure speculation.

Anyway, fingers crossed 🤞🏼

A workaround is… Download Google News app. Then you can add the google news widget. It has the same random 5 local news feeds as the Apple News widget. Works here in Ireland for me.

The Apple News app is available in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. Find out what's available in your country or region.

Browse Apple News for the latest headlines, sports and puzzles

We‘re not talking about the news app, that has never been released outside the countries you mentioned.

We are talking about the news widget, that has been working flawlessly since the introduction of widgets in iOS 14.

I have been using the news widget here in Germany on all of my devices daily as a source for a quick news overview. And as I said, it had been working like charm, updating from local news sources UNTIL May 2nd when the widget completely disappeared from all of my devices and can not be found in the widget selection. ☹️

Disappeared for me in Mexico yesterday on the 15 Pro but its still working on my 13, both on 17.4.1.

I switched to USA region and was able to download News App. Then switched back to Mexico and the widget appeared again for a few hours and then it disappeared yet again.

I NEED MY NEEWS!

I am also running 17.4.1 on my iPhone 15 pro max in India and Apple News has completely disappeared. At first I did not see any news all day as it said the phone is offline, but it was connected to the Internet and all other apps were working fine. I switched it off and then turned it on and Apple News widget completely disappeared !

It's not always the iOS update's fault!  Many things can cause phone problems.  If you tell people you think it's an iOS update, it might make it harder to fix or find a solution for the real issue.

Remember, the right question often leads to the solution!

iOS updates aim to enhance user experience, boost security, and fix bugs rather than disrupt core features. The majority of the issues after updates might stem from underlying, unmentioned factors. Updates won't typically alter personal data but may refine settings or features. Backup before major updates for safety. Review Apple's update details and backup advice for a smooth process.

Kindly consider checking your settings and addressing any device issues before attributing the issue to external factors. This could be a pure coincidence that the iOS update affected the iPhone functions.

Before initiating a standard iOS update, it's advisable to create a backup. Have you completed this step? If yes, proceed with the restoration from the backup.

See what each update does: About iOS 17 Updates, About iOS 16 Updates, About iOS 15 Updates, About iOS 14 Updates, About iOS 13 Updates, About iOS 12 Updates, and so on...

same here , region india. Was enjoying the apple news widget both on homescreen as well as the lockscreen however disappeared since updating to 17.4.1. Also important to mention i dont remember accepting this upgrade. Very sneaky apple.

Gone from all my devices in Italy too.

I’m used to this, I mean about ‘the disappearance’, but usually I always found the way to get the widget back. No this time though…

Rumor has it that Apple has ceased supporting the widget given the imminent release of the news app also in those countries where it wasn’t previously released, like majority of Europe.

Let’s see what kind of new trickery has Tim come up with in order to grab our money.

I’m honestly fed up with Apple.

Update from my earlier post…having spent a bit of time on the phone to Apple Support on this matter I was pleased for their advice, which included all matters expanded on this forum however they also suggested using the Google News stream. Uploading that replaced the lost Apple News stream with an even better local news section. You need a Google account for this but then who doesn't have that these days, other than that here is the answer to most if not all of our concerns over Apple's decision to shut down their news feed to most of the world outside the USA. Hope this helps

Same. From India, woke up today and didn’t have the widget on my phone… this is genuinely confusing and not appreciated…

Hoping they fix it post event, but if this is intentional, then I can’t think to call this anything else than a malicious action.

REAALLY surprised to not see any apple official statements / warnings / notices on this…

Found a workaround that works the same for me here in Ireland… downloaded the Google News App and you can then ad the widget. Has five various local news outlet articles and even the 4th one down is sports oriented, like the Apple widget…happy so far…😀

Spoke to Apple support, apparently the news app has been discontinued. The two people I spoke to weren’t even aware this was the case until they enquired further up the ladder.

So there was no announcement at all.

It appears the support staff have not even been made aware it has been discontinued.

Nice one Apple.

I’m in India. I lost the Apple News widget in mu iPad post updating to 17.4.1

since i still have it on my iPhone, I’m certainly NOT updating to any new version for now!

I miss checking out the news every half hour or so🤨

Bring it back Tim!!