Media 24’s MyEdit news aggregation app goes live

MyEdit, the personalised aggregation app from Media 24, is officially live for Apple and Android.

The app, which is free to download, reportedly tailors content from a number of South African publications including, YOU, DRUM, Fairlady, tvplus, Men’s Health, Finweek, Go!, Move! and True Love. The content on MyEdit is aggregated into 20 categories, including news, sport, fashion and entertainment.

“The media landscape has undergone a complete overhaul over the past few years,” says Willem Breytenbach, General Manager of Media24 Magazines: Digital.

“The consumer’s needs and wants have to be met instantaneously. Due to the mass adoption of mobile devices people are now demanding instant access to their favourite things.

“This is how the idea for MyEdit was born. The vision is to simplify the reading experience in an innovative and accessible manner”.

“MyEdit allows each user to explore only the content that interests them,” says Daniël Malherbe, Head of Business Innovation for Media24 Magazines: Digital.

“The experience becomes even more personalised when the user reads, likes, dislikes, shares or comments on the articles. Simply put, the more you use MyEdit the smarter it becomes at showing you stories that would interest you.”

In addition to stories from top magazines, newspapers and carefully selected SA bloggers, users can also contribute to the app by uploading pictures and even their favourite recipes.

“The inclusion of the ‘User Contributed’ section was very important because we know how people love interacting with their apps. The aim is to create a MyEdit community that emphasises sharing and discussion around two of our favourite things: food and photographs,” says Malherbe.

“The future for digital innovation in the South African media is bright, as mobility and ease-of-access become increasingly important to the average reader,” adds Breytenbach.

“Fixed and mobile broadband connections are growing exponentially and smart-device users now spend more time using apps than they do browsing the web. This trend towards mobile engagement proves that people want their favourite content to come to them instead of having to search for it — and MyEdit makes this possible.”

The launch comes fresh on the heels of the company’s news division, News 24, releasing a revamped version of its news app. That app evaluates news, sport and lifestyle stories every day, and using keywords, matches them to users’ personal interests and instantly delivers them to their iPad — in one place. The personalised keyword system allows the app to deliver the freshest news and most relevant stories about the topics of most interest to them from News24 and all its sister sites.