On Friday, Apple announced a new feature for Apple News+ subscribers, named Apple News+ Food, set to be released as part of iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 in April. This feature will be available in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia, and will enable users to search, discover, save, and cook recipes sourced from various existing News+ publishing partners.
Unlike standalone recipe apps that integrate content from across the internet, Apple News+ Food will exclusively offer recipes from publishers associated with Apple News+. At launch, Apple plans to include over 30 publishers, expanding from the 20 currently being tested. Some of the notable partners are Allrecipes, Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, Good Food, Serious Eats, Epicurious, Good Housekeeping, Better Homes & Gardens, Southern Living, Delish, Real Simple, and CountryLiving, among others. Apple has indicated that tens of thousands of recipes will be accessible through this service.
This development aims to enhance exposure for Apple’s publishing partners, providing them with a broader audience, particularly at a time when referrals from Google to their websites are decreasing. Within the Apple News app’s Today feed, iPhone and iPad users will discover a new Food section, offering a featured recipe curated by Apple’s editorial team, along with a variety of food and dining-related stories, an extensive collection of recipes, and links to both the Food+ catalog and their saved recipes.
Apple also mentioned that a selection of food stories and recipes will be available for users without an Apple News+ subscription. To access the Apple News+ Food subscription service, users can click the “More food” link from the Food section in the Today tab or follow the “Food” link from the Following tab for direct access to recipes.
In the Food+ section, users will see a daily updated featured recipe and a broadened array of recommended stories aligned with their interests. This personalization will improve with increased app engagement. Additional curated sections link to users’ saved recipes or collections from certain publishers, popular recipes, or themed recipes, such as those focused on healthy eating or quick weeknight meals. Users can save recipes directly in the News app for easy reference.
For more specific searches, users can navigate through Apple News+ Food’s recipe catalog, utilizing filters such as “dinner,” “easy,” “vegetarian,” “under 30 minutes,” and more, applicable across saved recipes as well. The recipes are designed to be clutter-free and easily readable, featuring clear presentation of ingredients, steps, descriptions, cooking time, servings, and a photo of the dish with links back to the publisher’s website.
Additional helpful features include tapping an ingredient to see the required amount without revisiting the ingredients list and starting a timer directly from the cooking instructions. A dedicated cooking mode presents recipes in full screen with larger text, keeping the screen active even if idle screen settings are in place.
However, Apple News+ Food does not currently allow users to add personal recipes or those sourced from the web, nor does it provide tools to import or export recipes to other apps. Users are also unable to save recipes from social media platforms, where many find inspiration today.
With Apple News+ Food, Apple continues to expand its presence in the mobile app ecosystem, competing with third-party developers contributing to Apple’s revenue through App Store purchases. Recent app introductions by Apple include the party-planning app Invites, iOS 18’s Passwords app, the Sports app, and a mobile Journal app.
Unlike independent developers, Apple can introduce new apps without relying on a business model beyond iPhone sales, posing a challenge for smaller developers. Regarding Apple News+ Food, it is understood that publishers do not receive additional compensation for their recipes; rather, the service extends Apple’s existing partnerships, where it earns revenue by displaying ads within publishers’ articles and taking a 30% share of sales.
The service requires an Apple News+ subscription, priced at $12.99 per month in the U.S., £12.99 in the U.K., $16.99 in Canada, and $19.99 in Australia, granting access to over 400 magazines, newspapers, and digital publishers.
