NEW YORK—CNN Weather is now available for download in Apple’s iOS App Store in the United States, CNN announced.

The app, CNN’s first standalone lifestyle product, combines meteorology and climate expertise.

CNN said that the app builds on the recent launch of the All Access subscription offering and that CNN Weather is the next step in its direct-to-consumer strategy.

As such, it is the first in a planned suite of lifestyle products that extend the value of CNN beyond global breaking news. The products will tap into CNN’s existing strengths—best-in-class video capabilities, global reach and local access—to provide audiences with new ways to engage with CNN every day. CNN Weather will be available for free at launch.

“We are creating this portfolio of lifestyle products to help our audience navigate a complex world,” said Ben French, senior vice president of new business. “CNN Weather will not only prepare people each morning for the day ahead and keep them safe and informed during severe weather events, it will also help our audience appreciate and understand the natural weather phenomena around them."

CNN Weather combines best-in-class weather and climate reporting with user-friendly features that offer real-time, reliable information, the network said. The app provides local forecasts and interactive radar, live coverage from CNN’s meteorology and climate experts as weather stories unfold and visually engaging video content to enhance users' understanding of weather phenomena, it said.

“Audiences have always come to CNN for trusted weather information because of our deep bench of meteorologists and climate experts,” said Angela Fritz, senior director, weather and climate at CNN. “Now, with CNN Weather, we can connect people directly with the science-backed insights and analysis that will help them understand the weather and climate events happening around them.”

Download the app here.

OONA TV, an Indonesian-based app available only over the Android OS, said this week it will launch in the U.S. next month. The service promises free “unlimited” live and on demand entertainment via its app, available for Android mobile and the OONA Android TV box.

Currently only available in its home country, OONA offers a wide range of kids programming, drama, movies, esports and TV shows, as well as news from Bloomberg, Aljazeera, Euronews and France24. The company has not clarified yet what U.S.-based programs or channels it will offer.

OONA said it is available to 185 million Indonesians and that it will be expanding to other parts of Asia and Africa, “with a number of high profile launches for the coming 6-12 months.”

Although the service is “free,” OONA uses the data it collects from its viewers to enhance its advertising and bottom line.

“OONA TV users get rewarded with a virtual currency—tcoins—just for watching the content they love, checking out interesting personalized ads which can save them time and money, sharing on social media and interacting with OONAbot, the cool genie in the app who is there to serve them, and give them the best possible CX [customer experience],” the company said.

OONA also claims that its ads get better response than even Google.

“In the Asia market, where OONA TV was launched in conjunction with one of the world’s leading telecoms, Telkom Indonesia, OONA TV has recorded a 21% CTR [click-through rate] on Video Ads which is a huge 92X higher than the average global CTR recorded by Google,” the company said.

Using the launch of Disney+ and a gloomy economic outlook to grease the PR skids, OONA’s offer of “FREE TV FOR LIFE” is “welcome news for the countless Americans who cannot afford to pay subscriptions and as CNN recently noted, 'America’s business leaders are growing more worried the United States will enter a recession by the end of 2020.'”

The app is available via Google Play, but is currently restricted to Indonesia.

Much like the rest of the pay-TV industry, user interfaces are in a state of flux.

After Apple CEO Tim Cook claimed that the "future of TV is apps", the industry initially followed suit by making many interfaces (UIs) app-based. But with so many UIs now resembling smartphones, users are finding it increasingly difficult to navigate the converged TV landscape. Wading through multiple services and content sources on one UI can be confusing and even frustrating.

An alternative to the app-based UI is the more traditional electronic programming guide (EPG) format–an interface familiar to many who still consume content in a linear fashion. But for pay-TV providers looking to develop a UI that creates a happy medium and satisfies every user that might pick up the TV remote, there are two elements they need to consider.

First of all, UIs need to create effortless, stress-free consumption.

Consider this: The average user is confronted with myriad services when they switch on – from Netflix and linear broadcasting to VoD services and YouTube. All of this combines to create a labyrinth of menus across multiple apps and services. Users need to be able to switch between these services effortlessly with a simple, uncluttered and engaging interface that doesn't overwhelm them with options. At the same time, UIs also need to create a bridge between content silos – searching for one particular piece of content shouldn't entail accessing multiple apps.

For the occasions when users don't want to search for themselves, the service needs to be personalized with recommendations based on previous content they enjoyed, along with any other data the provider can use intelligently. This is key to removing stress from the user experience. How many times have you turned on your VoD service, only to be confronted by so many options that you're unable to decide on what you want to watch at all?

And as the range of services on offer continues to grow, UIs should also take heed of emerging design trends – specifically, an emphasis on decluttering and stripping the interface back to its key functionalities (i.e. taking advice from mobile-first design). By ensuring an interface is clear, accessible and simple to navigate, providers can help users enjoy a stress-free service that doesn't overwhelm.

Secondly, UIs need to be adaptable to new forms of content and emerging technologies.

Users are constantly switching services and engaging with new content. Pay-TV providers cannot assume the landscape will remain unchanged and subsequently build a UI that accommodates only today's popular services and apps. The tech landscape is littered with long-forgotten apps and content services, from Blockbuster on Demand to Myspace.

Similarly, UIs should take social media into account. Facebook gets eight billion video views a day and Snapchat gets 10 billion, while the vast majority of Twitter users "love to engage" with video content. It's increasingly clear just how much of a significant video content delivery channel social platforms are. And although some have predicted that Facebook Live will actually compete with and even overtake TV, there is no reason to assume the two cannot, in fact, converge – so long as the user experience is seamless enough to encourage people to use Facebook on their TV, of course.

But it's not just a matter of the content that will be available in the future. UIs must also adapt to new technologies as they continue to emerge. For now, the UI landscape is relatively straightforward – that is, the vast majority are technically graphical user interfaces (GUIs). But beyond that, we face the rising ubiquity and popularity of voice user interfaces (VUIs) – as evidenced by Apple's Siri, Microsoft's Cortana and Amazon's Alexa. Also rising in popularity is virtual reality (VR). How long until these become commonplace interfaces that consumers come to expect from all of their everyday products?

Whatever the future holds for linear broadcasting, VoD services and even social media, providers must ultimately be prepared to expect the unexpected. And while there is no user interface that works for everybody who will ever pick up a remote, give a command to their VUI, or switch on their VR headset, there are two maxims providers should always keep in mind: adaptability and stress-free consumption.

UIs need to incorporate new technologies as much as they learn from the old ones. UIs need to become both cutting-edge and stripped back. And just as importantly, they need to create a bridge between an increasing number of content silos. UIs should be the map that helps guide the consumer to the center of an ever-expanding content maze.

  Anthony Smith-Chaigneau, senior director, product marketing, NAGRA.

This article originally appeared in TVB Europe.