Yahoo Updates iOS App With Breaking News, GIFs

• By Stephanie Mlot
• September 18, 2013 04:53pm EST

Yahoo today launched an iOS app update with new features, including animated cinemagraphs.

Designed specifically for iOS 7, which also launched today, the revamped Yahoo app is available for iPhone and iPod touch; there is no word on an updated iPad version.

The changes, according to Fernando Delgado, Yahoo's senior director of product management for mobile and emerging products, create "an even better experience for discovering and reading content whether in the moment or saving for later."

U.S. users will find the new ability to save content to enjoy later, via the "My Saves" option. If you're on the go and don't have the time to dive into an article about local real estate prices, just tap the button and return to the story later.

Yahoo also added breaking news alerts, keeping you up to date with developing details from the company's news blog, as well as real-time updates from Yahoo editors.

"At Yahoo, we realize that it's not just the quality of the content that keeps you coming back," Delgado said in a blog post. "It's the experience. That's why we've made changes to almost every view of the app to make it cleaner, faster and more engaging."

Boasting a tidier stream and more seamless category switching, the app includes a relevant photo with each story. Some even have cinemagraphs — subtly animated images that provide more context to the story (that are also known as GIFs).

As the application continues its rollout, features like "My Saves" will make their way to the Yahoo desktop; users will be able to flag any content found on Yahoo for later reading on a mobile device.

The Yahoo iOS app update is currently available for free download in the Apple iTunes Store.

Yahoo has been making headlines lately, in part because of its months-long buying spree, but the company also reached a milestone 800 million monthly active users last week — a 20 percent jump since Marissa Mayer took over in July 2012. Almost half of those users are on mobile.