Apple News Gives You More Options for Automatic Downloads on iOS 17.5

In the iOS 17.5 software update, released May 13, there are new features for EU countries and mobile device managers only, but there are also more widespread user-facing changes to Books, Podcasts, and other apps. News is one of those other apps, and it gives us more preferences for automatic downloads.

These new preferences are unavailable directly in the Apple News app. Instead, go to "News" in the Settings app on iOS 17.5 or iPadOS 17.5.

The News Settings section on 17.4.1 and earlier, which included the "Restrict Stories in Today" switch, is now called Today Feed. It's not a huge change, but it makes sense, given the other changes discussed below.

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The News settings in iOS 17.4.1 vs. iOS 17.5.

The Automatic Downloads section, which included the "Download Issues" and "Download Audio" switches on 17.4.1 and earlier, is now called News+ Offline Mode. As before, this section only applies to Apple News+ subscribers.

In this section, there's a new "Automatic Downloads" switch, which turns the feature on and off as a whole. Below it, the new "Download Options" submenu lets you choose the content you want and don't want automatically downloaded.

Automatically download content to enjoy offline. Content downloads when Background App Refresh is on for News and iPhone is connected to Wi-Fi and power.

The old "Download Issues" and "Download Audio" switches are in the new submenu as "Magazine Issues" and "Audio Stories," joined by "Puzzles," "Recent Stories," and "Saved Stories." Puzzles include Crossword, Crossword Mini, and iOS 17.5's new Quartiles games.

Under the content type toggles, there's a new "Optimize Storage" switch. You can turn this on to make Apple News+ download smaller versions of all the images in your offline content. However, even when the switch is disabled, it will automatically turn on whenever your iPhone or iPad is low on storage.

To see more iOS 17.5 and iPadOS 17.5 features, check out our always-updated 17.5 roundup.

Cover photo and screenshots by Justin Meyers/Gadget Hacks