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How SmartNews customization works
SmartNews is organized around channels, topics, and notifications rather than one single “personalization” switch. Channels are the tabs you read regularly, such as publisher, city, or subject channels. Topics and followed interests influence which stories are selected for your feed. Notifications are a separate layer: you can allow some alert types, such as breaking news, while disabling others, such as scheduled headline digests.
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That separation matters when troubleshooting. Turning off a category inside SmartNews does not necessarily change the operating system’s permission for the app. Conversely, blocking SmartNews at the iPhone or Android level suppresses every SmartNews alert even if individual categories remain enabled in the app.
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- Channels: the tabs and publisher or local sections you choose to keep visible.
- Topics: subjects, entertainment interests, local coverage, and other followed content used to curate the feed.
- Notifications: timed, urgent, local, personalized, or campaign alerts that can be toggled independently.
- Device permission: the final iOS or Android switch that can allow or block all SmartNews notifications.
Add channels to SmartNews
Open the channel directory
- Open SmartNews and go to the row of channel tabs at the top.
- Flip or scroll all the way to the right until you see the + tab.
- Tap + to browse available channels.
- Select the local city, publisher, or subject channels you want to add, following the prompts shown in your app version.
The SmartNews Help Center describes this as the standard route to the channel directory. The directory can include local city news and publisher channels. Its inventory changes over time and by market, so a channel shown in one country or edition may not appear in another.
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SmartNews has described an article-era inventory of more than 150 official publisher channels worldwide and more than 80 in the United States, with additional channels added monthly. Those figures are not a permanent catalog or a guarantee that every channel is available in your account; treat them as historical counts from the Help Center article rather than a current total.
Reorder or hide channels
Open channel management
- Press and hold one of the channel tabs at the top of the screen for a couple of seconds.
- Wait for the channel list or editing view to open.
- Use the drag handles or list icons on the right to move channels into your preferred order.
- To hide a channel, uncheck it on the left side of the list.
- Finish the edit using the confirmation or back control shown by your edition.
The long-press gesture is easy to miss because a normal tap simply opens a channel. Hold the tab until the management list appears. Reordering changes the sequence of tabs; it does not delete the publisher or remove the channel permanently from the directory. A hidden channel can generally be found again through the far-right + tab and added back.
Choose channels for a focused or broad feed
Channel selection is the most direct way to change what you see without changing every notification setting. A broad setup might include several national publishers, a local city channel, sports, politics, health, travel, and entertainment. A focused setup keeps only the local channel and a small number of subjects, reducing tab clutter and making the top of the app easier to scan.
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|---|---|---|
| Discover a wide range of stories | Keep multiple publisher and subject channels visible | More viewpoints and variety, but more tabs and a busier feed |
| Prioritize nearby events | Add your city or local channel and place it near the front | Greater local relevance, with less room for national coverage in the first screen |
| Check a few subjects quickly | Hide unused channels and reorder the remaining subjects | Faster scanning, but stories outside those subjects are less prominent |
| Experiment with new coverage | Add a channel temporarily, then hide it if it is not useful | Requires occasional cleanup of the tab row |
There is no universal best order. Put channels you open every day first, followed by channels used for occasional context. If your edition offers a general top or headline tab, keeping it available can preserve broader discovery while the other tabs provide focus.
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Follow topics and other interests
What topics do
The current Google Play description says SmartNews lets users curate a feed based on the topics that interest them most. It also describes entertainment-topic following, local coverage, travel, politics, health, and favorite-team notifications. The exact list depends on the app release and edition, so your topic picker may use different names or offer a different selection.
Topics affect feed relevance rather than simply adding another tab. Following an interest gives SmartNews a stronger signal about the stories you want to see. A channel can still contain a broad mix of articles, while topic choices help the app select and rank stories within the areas you follow.
A practical way to select topics
- Start with a small set of subjects you read every week instead of selecting every available interest.
- Add local coverage if nearby government, weather, events, or community reporting matters to you.
- Follow entertainment topics separately from general news if you want those stories included without adding many publisher tabs.
- Use favorite-team controls when you want sports alerts tied to a particular team rather than general sports headlines.
- Revisit the list after you have used SmartNews for a while and remove interests that produce little value.
Following more topics increases breadth; following fewer creates a more concentrated feed. Topic availability is not identical across countries, and an app update can move a setting or change its label. If you cannot find a topic mentioned in another guide, check whether your edition supports it before assuming the feature is broken.
Set favorite-team notifications
The current Google Play listing specifically mentions notifications for favorite teams. If your edition exposes that feature, use the sports or team-interest controls in the topic or notification flow and select the teams you want. Team alerts are distinct from simply following a sports channel: a sports channel broadens the stories in your feed, while a favorite-team setting is intended to identify updates about selected teams.
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Availability, team coverage, and alert behavior can vary by market and app version. If a team is not listed, you may still be able to follow the broader sports topic or a related publisher channel, but SmartNews does not promise identical team options in every edition.
Customize SmartNews notifications in the app
Open the notification controls
- Open SmartNews.
- Tap Profile in the bottom bar.
- Tap the Settings gear.
- Choose Notifications.
- Toggle each category on or off according to your preference.
If the bottom bar is not visible, drag down on any channel tab to reveal the Profile icon. SmartNews’s Help Center describes the category controls as independent switches: “Toggle the switches on or off for each category to customize your alerts.”
What each category means
| Category | Purpose | When to enable it |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Pushes | Curated headlines delivered at set times | When you want regular briefings rather than constant alerts |
| Breaking News | Alerts for urgent developments | When speed matters and you accept interruptions for major events |
| Local Updates | News based on configured local preferences | When nearby coverage is more useful than a national-only feed |
| Personalized Picks | Recommendations based on reading habits and SmartNews’s algorithm | When discovery is valuable and extra recommendations are acceptable |
| Point Campaigns | Rewards or mission notices | Only if you want those promotional or rewards-related messages |
A low-interruption setup usually keeps only the categories whose timing matters to you. For example, you might retain Breaking News and Local Updates, disable Scheduled Pushes, and turn off Personalized Picks and Point Campaigns. Another reader may prefer Scheduled Pushes and Personalized Picks while disabling Breaking News to avoid urgent interruptions. The switches are designed for that kind of category-level choice.
Turn off every SmartNews alert on iPhone
- Open the iPhone Settings app.
- Tap Notifications.
- Choose SmartNews from the app list.
- Turn off Allow Notifications.
This is an operating-system block. It overrides the in-app category choices and prevents SmartNews from delivering notifications through iOS. If you later turn Allow Notifications back on, review the SmartNews in-app categories too; categories that were enabled there may become active again.
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Turn off every SmartNews alert on Android
- Open Android Settings.
- Tap Apps, or Apps & notifications on Android versions that use that label.
- Select SmartNews.
- Tap Notifications.
- Turn off all notifications, or disable only the categories you do not want.
Android manufacturers can rename or rearrange these menus. If you do not see the exact path, open Settings search and look for “SmartNews notifications” or “App notifications.” A category-level Android block can complement the in-app switches when you want the phone to enforce a stricter rule.
Use the two notification layers together
Think of notification delivery as a chain. SmartNews first decides which enabled category has something to send; iOS or Android then decides whether the app is permitted to display it. Both layers must allow delivery for an alert to appear.
| Desired result | In-app setting | Phone setting |
|---|---|---|
| Keep only selected alert types | Enable the desired SmartNews categories and disable the rest | Leave SmartNews notifications allowed |
| Mute everything temporarily | Categories may remain unchanged | Turn off SmartNews notifications at the device level |
| Stop one type that still appears | Disable that category | Check whether the operating system has its own category enabled |
| Restore alerts after a mute | Confirm the categories you want are on | Re-enable SmartNews notifications and any required categories |
Checking only one layer can lead to a confusing result. For instance, an in-app switch may be off while an old notification remains in the phone’s notification shade, or the app categories may be enabled while iOS or Android blocks the app completely.
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Stop SmartNews alerts that keep appearing
Use this sequence when notifications continue after you changed a setting:
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- Identify the alert type. Read the notification wording and note whether it resembles a scheduled headline, breaking item, local update, personalized recommendation, or point campaign.
- Recheck SmartNews. Go to Profile > Settings (gear) > Notifications and verify the matching category is off.
- Recheck the phone. On iPhone, inspect Settings > Notifications > SmartNews. On Android, inspect Settings > Apps or Apps & notifications > SmartNews > Notifications.
- Force-close and reopen SmartNews. This refreshes the app’s running state after a settings change.
- Restart the phone. A restart can clear a notification service that has not yet applied the new permission state.
- Test one category at a time. Re-enable only the alert type you want, then observe whether the next notification matches that choice.
Do not assume that an alert arriving immediately after a change proves the switch failed. A notification that was already generated may still be displayed while the new setting takes effect. The decisive test is whether new alerts continue after both layers have been checked and the app and phone have been restarted.
Build a setup for different reading habits
Quiet daily briefing
- Keep a local channel and a few essential subject channels.
- Enable Scheduled Pushes if you want a predictable briefing time.
- Disable Breaking News, Personalized Picks, and Point Campaigns if interruptions are unwelcome.
- Allow SmartNews notifications at the device level so the scheduled briefing can arrive.
Urgent-news awareness
- Keep Breaking News enabled.
- Add Local Updates if nearby events affect you.
- Hide channels that duplicate coverage you do not read.
- Disable Scheduled Pushes if you want urgent alerts without routine digests.
Discovery and entertainment
- Follow several entertainment topics and enable Personalized Picks.
- Keep a broad top or headline channel for stories outside your selected interests.
- Use favorite-team notifications for specific teams instead of enabling every sports alert.
- Review the topic list periodically so recommendations do not drift away from your interests.
Complete digital quiet
- Turn off every SmartNews category in the app if you want the preferences recorded there.
- Turn off SmartNews notifications in iOS or Android to enforce a full device-level mute.
- Reopen the app only when you choose to read; channel and topic customization still affects the feed when you do.
What changes by country and app version
SmartNews’s menu names, channel inventory, topic list, and notification categories can change by country, operating system, and release. The US Help Center instructions are a useful baseline, but they are not a promise that every reader sees identical controls. A local channel may be offered in one market and absent in another. An Android release may place Profile in a different location or use a different label for app notifications.
When your screen differs from these steps, match the function rather than the exact wording: look for the far-right add-channel control, a press-and-hold channel editor, Profile settings, and the operating system’s app-notification page. Keep your app updated through the store available for your device, and use the labels currently displayed in your edition.
SmartNews scale and usage figures: how to interpret them
The Google Play SmartNews listing showed more than 50 million downloads when it was updated on October 15, 2026. That is store metadata and does not measure active users, current readership, or the number of people receiving notifications.
A 2019 SmartNews newsroom statement reported an average of five hours of usage per month while discussing publisher partnerships. That is historical company-reported usage and should not be treated as a current average. The same newsroom statement said SmartNews algorithms drive traffic to thousands of content providers, primarily through the Top tab, notifications, and topical and local channels. Those comments explain why channel and topic choices can influence discovery, but they do not establish how the current algorithm ranks any individual story.
Quick Recap
Quick checklist
- Use the far-right + tab to add a local, publisher, or subject channel.
- Press and hold a top tab for a couple of seconds to reorder channels or uncheck one to hide it.
- Follow only the topics, entertainment interests, and teams you genuinely want shaping the feed.
- Open Profile > Settings (gear) > Notifications to control Scheduled Pushes, Breaking News, Local Updates, Personalized Picks, and Point Campaigns individually.
- For a complete mute, also disable SmartNews in iOS Settings > Notifications or Android Settings > Apps (or Apps & notifications) > SmartNews > Notifications.
- If alerts persist, verify both layers, force-close and reopen SmartNews, then restart the phone.
- Expect labels and availability to vary by edition and app version.
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