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New ‘Shades’ App Provides News for Gen Z

News and culture app Shades seeks to change how Gen Z and Alpha engage with news. In an era plagued by fake news, Shades delivers transparent and impartial news by curating content from multiple verifiable sources and presenting it in an easily digestible format.

Unlike traditional news platforms reliant on clickbait and sensational headlines, Shades offers concise summaries from diverse perspectives. Covering a wide range of topics including politics, pop culture, sports, and TikTok trends, Shades offers a balanced view of current events.

Gen Z’s news consumption habits show a reliance on unverified social media accounts and a general avoidance of paid news services. Algorithms often exacerbate this by serving biased content, leading to skewed perceptions. To address this issue, Shades provides a free, no-paywall solution that provides reliable and well-rounded news content.

Launched in May 2024, Shades has quickly gained traction thanks to its convenience and efficiency. The app’s streamlined UX and design, created in partnership with Silicon Valley product design firm Metalab, have garnered hundreds of 5-star reviews.

Notably, users praise the app’s intuitive interface. Its home feed is simply divided into three sections; Top Stories, Breaking News, and For You.

In addition, Shades fosters a vibrant community of informed users by encouraging engagement. The app’s interactive features include polls, reaction sharing, and user-generated takes, creating a dynamic platform for news interaction.

Video from Shades introducing the app’s interface and features

The leadership team driving Shades includes Julio Avalos, former GitHub COO; Sonali Maitra, a Stanford educator and video game lawyer; and Jeff Grimes, an ex-Google Group Product Manager who scaled their Discover Feed to $1 billion in annual revenue.

Shades is now available for download on iOS devices.

Learn more about Shades by going to its website here.

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