Dive Brief:

• Apple announced Monday the launch of its "News" app, pitting it in direct competition with Facebook's recently launched "Instant Articles."
• The two platforms share more similarities than differences -- both offer similar revenue sharing with publishers, and both come from previous failed publishing ventures. 
• The main difference is that Apple has opened up News to all publishers from the start, while Facebook is slowly rolling out Instant Articles with hand-picked partners. Apple News will also allow publishers to push subscriptions, newsletters and other interactions with readers. 

Dive Insight: 

Apple News and Facebook Instant articles underscore how important social elements have become in digital publishing. Today, readers are less likely to seek out news on their own than to review news delivered to their newsfeed. Apple and Facebook have taken the new method of discovery to a new level and provided a way for publishers to reach those newsfeed junkies. 

“Apple’s intent is to make it easier to find news that’s engaging to you and improve the news-reading and discovery experience in ways that others aren’t necessarily providing as effectively, including currently, Apple," Michael Silberman, gm of digital media at New York magazine, one of News’ launch partners, said of News.