BBC News for Android tablets finally begins broadcasting

26 January 2012 16:46 GMT / By Paul Lamkin

The BBC has announced that its popular BBC News app is now available on Android tablets.

The app, which launched for smaller sized Android handsets back in May last year, is on offer for tablets sized 7.2 inches and above, running Android 3.0+. The design has been optimised for larger displays and it offers simple browsing in landscape and portrait view.

That means, if you're rocking a 7-inch Android tab, such as the original Samsung Galaxy Tab or the HTC Flyer, you'll still just get the smartphone friendly app.

It works over both 3G and Wi-Fi, although there's no live BBC News Channel action as of yet - this feature is to be added at a later date. An international version of the app from BBC Worldwide is also set to land later on this year.

"Growing numbers of people are accessing BBC News on mobiles and tablets," said Kate Milner, mobile product manager for News and Future Media at the BBC.

"In an average week, the BBC News sites and apps are visited by around 9.7 million users worldwide on mobile and tablet devices. That represents about 26 per cent of the total.

"The BBC News product development team will be working on further mobile and tablet improvements over the coming year."

Whilst you wait for them, you can grab the updated app from the Android Market now. It's free, of course.

Via: bbc.co.uk

Full tags

Apps, Android apps, BBC