The Best Newspaper Apps for Reading Nigerian Newspapers

Five questions decided the order: does the app carry Nigerian newspapers, and how many; what does it cost to read; does it show headlines that open at the publisher, or a copy of the printed page; which devices does it run on; and what happens when you tap a story. An app that is excellent in London or New York can be thin on Nigerian reporting, so coverage of the Nigerian press counted most.

There is no single best newspaper app for everyone. The right choice depends on whether you read one paper or many, whether you want Nigerian or world news, and whether the printed layout matters to you. Each section below says what the app is good at and where it falls short.

Built for one job: keeping the Nigerian press together on an Android phone. It gathers headlines from 30 Nigerian publishers, from national dailies such as Punch, Vanguard and The Guardian to Premium Times, BusinessDay and the sport and technology specialists. Headlines are sorted by category, you can save a report to finish later, and every article opens at the newspaper that wrote it.

Where it falls short: it is Android only, it carries Nigerian publishers rather than world newspapers, and it does not provide e-paper or PDF editions. It is free and supported by ads.

Google News is free on Android, iPhone and the web, and offers an edition for Nigeria. Its strength is breadth: Nigerian outlets appear alongside international ones, and its Full Coverage view shows several reports on the same story. You can follow particular sources and topics to shape your feed.

Where it falls short: the feed is chosen by an algorithm, so Nigerian newspapers compete with international and aggregated sources for space, and it is harder to go paper by paper through the Nigerian press.

PressReader shows digital copies of printed newspapers and magazines from around the world, page by page as they were printed, with a text view for reading on a phone. Full access usually needs a subscription, although some libraries, hotels and other venues sponsor free access while you are connected to them.

Where it falls short: cost, for most readers, and a catalogue built around international titles. Check it for the Nigerian newspapers you want before paying. If one paper's print edition is all you need, that newspaper's own e-paper service may be simpler.

Flipboard is free on Android, iPhone and the web and arranges stories into magazine-style collections by topic. It is pleasant for broad reading about world affairs, technology, business or culture, and you can follow individual publishers.

Where it falls short: its Nigerian coverage is thinner than its international coverage, so it works better as a second app for world news than as the main way to read Nigerian newspapers.

Several Nigerian newspapers publish their own apps. If you read one paper most of the time, its own app usually offers the fullest version of that publication, including its breaking-news alerts.

Where it falls short: one app covers one publisher. Reading five papers that way means five apps, five sets of notifications and five places to look, which is the problem an all-in-one newspaper app exists to solve.

Four of the five options here are free to install and free to read headlines: All Nigerian Newspapers, Google News, Flipboard and most newspapers' own apps. PressReader is free to install, but full reading usually needs a subscription or sponsored access. Free apps are generally paid for by advertising, and a publisher can still ask for an account or subscription on its own website.

Install newspaper apps only from Google Play. Copies of an app offered as APK files on other websites may be out of date or modified, and they do not receive updates.

An app is a convenience, not a requirement. Every Nigerian newspaper has a website that works in a phone browser, and this site links to all 30 official newspaper websites from one page, with today's headlines from across the press alongside. If you only read occasionally, or you use an iPhone, the web is often the simplest way to read Nigerian newspapers online.