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Currently My team members are in brainstorm session for local news app for both android and IOS. Since news is the thing that is supposed to be up to date with current time. Some members argue it to have internet (like apple news) while others think user should be able to view the previous content without internet (like BBC news).

They are stuck to conclude. Please help!

Updated: After long discussion, my team members agreed on showing "Last Updated Time" and call to action for internet connection. But I still doubt, Will it be effective?

Waiting for your responses

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  • If there is no connection then nothing is shown? – Alvaro Nov 30 '16 at 9:12
  • @Alvaro yes. it asks for internet connection. – Paliza Nov 30 '16 at 9:38
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Go for whatever you guys agreed upon

We can't have internet connection wherever we go. So offline is cruicial.

At the same time, displaying last connection is useful. Users will know how old news they are reading.

I suggest you to have interaction with local participants to test the usability.

Remember: When discussion starts within UX team, very few people agree on other's opinion. So I already said "Go for whatever you guys agreed upon"

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Offline reading adds a value to your app. Like you cache all the necessary information infront when app is connected to internet connection. Note: caching more information is good but not in a depth wise(like not too much of details have to be cached). Whenever user connects to internet ..it is recommended to cache all the important info in the background.

For more information look into Check this article

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Look at the user experience:

  • Would you like an app which, after starting, does not show anything at all until the new news have been loaded?

  • Would you like an app which, after starting, shows old news, and you must press the "Refresh" button yourself?

  • Would you like an app which, after starting, shows the old news, but automatically refreshes and shows new news as they arrive?

So my approach would be "both": It's important to show content immediately to keep the user engaged, but of course people are interested in new news. So the new items retrieved should be added to the screen as they become available automatically.

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At first glance it seems obvious that if choosing between "something" or "nothing" it is better "something", even if that "something" is outdated. However, this depends on the value your app has.

Are there any disadvantages for the user not being able to see old news?

Outdated content might be worst than not showing content. Think of a weather app, it might be convenient to use a range in which if the user didn't retrieve the latest information in the last X time, the (old) information the user has might be inacurate/wrong. So it is better not to show that information and ask the user to connect.

Balance what the user wants from you in the long term:

  • If the user is expecting accurate and latest information over anything else, then it might make sense not to provide cached content after a period of time.

  • If the user is expecting news to read, preferable the latest but old ones are also ok to read, then not having news cached might not be the best option.

If you choose the first option, consider some period of cached content, whether it is 1 minute, 1 hour, 1 day, etc.

Always show the Last Updated time so the user is aware of it. Also provide an easy way (pull to refresh) to update.

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