How to use AURA
This page sums up how to use AURA. Read it from the top, or jump to a section from the table of contents. For details, follow the links at the end of each section.
You can also watch it as a video. Japanese audio — the Japanese edition of AURA. Turn on English subtitles (CC).
Find what you want to do
Subscribe to a news site
- In the article list, tap ⋮ at the top right > Add a feed
- Tap Enter a URL, enter the site's URL (a site URL or an RSS / Atom URL), and tap Find
- Under Add to folder, choose a folder (if you don't, it goes to Uncategorized), then tap Add to …
If you don't know the URL, choose from Source directory on the same screen. → Add a feed
Collect news about words you care about
In Add a feed, tap Keyword, enter a word, and tap Collect “…”. Search results for that word arrive in your list, just like a source. Besides Google News for your country, you can also choose Medium (by tag), DEV (by tag), and Hacker News (stories whose title contains your words). They are off by default. Tap Preview to see what's found before you choose. → Add a feed
Keep articles to read later
Touch & hold an article in the list, or tap the bookmark at the top of the article screen. Saved articles aren't removed when AURA cleans up old articles, and AURA keeps their text and images so you can read them without a signal. → Read and save
Read on the train or on a plane
Set Settings > Offline & storage > Keep articles for offline reading to On Wi-Fi (recommended). The text and images of new articles and saved articles are kept on your device. → Keep articles for offline reading
Make text bigger or change colors
Tap aA at the top right of the article screen to change the text size. In Settings > Appearance, choose the theme and accent color. → Theme and text
The basics
Subscribe
Subscribe to a news site's RSS / Atom feed, to a keyword, or to a source from the directory built into the app. Feeds are grouped into folders, and the tabs above the list are your folders. → Add a feed · Folders
Read
Tap an article in the list to open the article screen. AURA extracts just the article text from the article's page and shows it without ads or menus. Swipe left or right to move to the next article. If AURA can't extract the text, you see the summary from the RSS feed. To read the rest, tap Open original article. → Full-text fetch
Read and save
Opening an article marks it as read (scrolling the list doesn't). Tap ⋮ at the top right of the list > Mark all as read to choose a range and mark many as read at once. Save the articles you want to read later. → Read and save
Change how the list looks
At the top left of the list, tap All articles ▾ to switch to unread articles only, saved articles, reading history, and more. In Settings > Appearance, choose the List look (2 columns, Large cards, or List) and the Magazine look (swipe left and right). → List layout
See what's running now
While AURA is refreshing or fetching full text in the background, ↻ and a count appear at the top right of the list.
- Tap — Shows the list of Running tasks for 4 seconds (it stays while you touch or scroll it)
- Touch & hold — Keeps the list open (the mark changes to a pin). Touch & hold again, or tap ✕, to go back
When everything finishes, you see ✓ All done and the mark goes away.
Keep articles for offline reading
This setting keeps article text and images on your device so you can read without a signal. In Settings > Offline & storage > Keep articles for offline reading, choose one of these.
| Option | What it keeps | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| On Wi-Fi (recommended) | The text and images of new articles (for 48 hours after they arrive) and saved articles | Wi-Fi only |
| Don't keep | Nothing | Fetches only the article you open, when you open it |
- For articles older than 48 hours, AURA fetches only the one you open, when you open it
- Saved articles are fetched first
- To see how much is kept, check Space in use on the same screen (Articles available offline shows the count). How much is removed in cleanup depends on Amount to keep on device (saved articles aren't removed)
AURA keeps articles while AURA is closed. While AURA is open, it pauses to show the list and articles first, and picks up where it left off a while after you close it. It also rests while your device is hot, until it cools down.
When you have many feeds
With more than 150 feeds, each refresh takes longer and uses more battery and data (a notice appears at the top of Manage feeds). Keeping only the sources you read often makes it lighter.
| Feeds | Time for one refresh (typical) |
|---|---|
| 50 | 27.7 seconds |
| 100 | 46.7 seconds |
| 150 | 83.3 seconds |
| 200 | 106.7 seconds |
These are estimates and vary by device (measured on a Galaxy Z Fold2 on Wi-Fi).
Photo frame motion
In Photo frame settings > Motion, choose one of 8 ways to show photos. A small sample moves in each row.
| Motion | What it does |
|---|---|
| Ken Burns (the default) | Slowly zooms and pans between photos. Direction and zoom change each time |
| Classic | Layers one photo over another |
| Origami | The screen folds up like origami to reveal the next photo |
| Mobile | Hanging frames sway gently into view |
| Photo wall | Fills the screen with photos, swapping a few at a time |
| Slide panels | Panels slide in. Turn on Vintage to give them an old-photo border and tint |
| Floating | Photos float up or flip upright |
| Auto | Cycles through the styles above |
- Photo fit — Fit screen width (the default) or Fit screen height. Whatever doesn't fit is shown as the photo moves
- Small photos aren't stretched. They sit on a blurred copy of themselves
- When your device's “Remove animations” is on, the photo frame switches slowly in the Classic style
About content made by AI
AURA Brief reports (PowerPoint, PDF, Word, and Excel) and parts of the audio briefing scripts are made automatically by AURA from the titles and summaries of the articles you follow, and from information that AI (Anthropic's Claude and others) looked up.
The audio briefing is AURA Brief · Audio (Beta). Two cats talk you through the news: Jet (the host) and Kit (the commentator). To change how they sound, choose Standard or Young in Settings > Read & listen > Read aloud > Write scripts with AI > AURA Brief voice.
- AI writing can contain errors or out-of-date information. Always check facts, dates, and numbers in the original articles (the QR codes in reports, and Source articles in the audio briefing)
- Reports and audio briefings aren't advice for investment, medical, legal, or other decisions
- Reports and audio are for your own use. They include article titles, summaries, and audio, so don't repost or share them
- If you spot an error, tap Send feedback to AURA at the top right of the report viewer or the audio briefing script
Tips for smooth use
- Keep your device charging and on Wi-Fi — Heavy work, such as fetching full text and translating headlines in other languages, runs at these times. Let it finish overnight, and your articles are ready to read in the morning
- Close AURA when you're done reading — While AURA is open, it pauses heavy background work to keep the screen responsive. Closing it lets that work continue
- Save the articles you read often — AURA fetches the text and images of saved articles first, and cleanup never removes them
- Unsubscribe from feeds you no longer use — Fewer feeds means faster refreshes and less data and battery. Unsubscribe in Manage feeds
- Hide or pin words — Hide articles with words you don't want to see, or pin them to the top (Filters, AURA Plus)
- Need help? — Get in touch through Contact