Particle+ is our new subscription that upgrades your Particle experience. The core Particle experience remains free. With the premium subscription, Particle+ allows users to take personalization to the next level with options that include a custom summary style, 8 audio voices, and 14 app icon styles. See below for a detailed feature comparison and information on how to access each feature once you’ve subscribed.

You must have v1.1.30 on iOS installed to access Particle+.

Choose your own adventure with a custom saved summary style, allowing you to consume news in a way that’s personalized. You can get as specific or as broad as you like. Here are some examples:

How to access: summary styles are located below headlines in each story. If you haven’t yet chosen a custom summary style, tap on the option labeled “Custom.” Then tap “Create Summary” and draft your perfect summary style. Finally, click ‘Create” in the top right to save. It may take a minute or two for your custom summary style to generate its first summary.

Don’t forget: you can reorder any of your summary styles to keep them how you want them!

Pick the voice that you want to listen to the most. The options include different genders, accents, and varying levels of enthusiasm.

How to access: Tap on your avatar or initials in the upper right corner to reach your Settings page. Subscribers will see a section called “Particle+.” Tap on “Voice Choice” and then tap the play button on each choice for a preview. Once you’ve identified your preferred voice, tap on the name to make it your default voice. The default voice will be displayed at the top of the page. Tap the back arrow to return to the Settings page.

Get access to the full archive of Particle crossword puzzles any time. If life gets busy or you go on vacation, you’ll be able to catch up on multiple puzzles at once. Without Particle+, you only have access to the puzzle of the day.

How to access: Tap the puzzle icon in the app bar at the bottom of your screen. You will see the day’s puzzle by default, but Particle+ users will be able to scroll left to access past puzzles. If you’ve already played a puzzle, you’ll see a button labeled “Review” where you’ll be able to review the leaderboard. If you haven’t yet played a puzzle, you’ll see a button labeled “Start Crossword.” Good luck!

Particle is all about personalizing the news experience to each user’s preferences, and Particle+ takes it even further. From choosing an icon that matches your interests, like sports or coffee, to your personal color preferences, Particle+ lets you pick the app icon you identify with most.

How to access: Tap on your avatar or initials in the upper-right corner to reach your Settings page. Subscribers will see a section called “Particle+.” Tap on “App Icon” to look at the different options. If a style offers color customization, there will be an option labeled “Choose Color” to the right.

Asking questions is one of the most popular features in Particle. Users have long requested the ability to submit questions privately, as questions on Particle are public. Particle+ delivers the ability to optionally keep a question private, so that the question and its answer will only be visible to you.

How to access: Tap on your avatar or initials in the upper-right corner to reach your Settings page. Subscribers will see a section called “Particle+.” Tap the toggle button next to “Private Questions” if you’d prefer to keep your next questions private. You can also optionally change the toggle right before you ask a question from a story. Make sure to choose the preferred setting before you ask the question. Once you ask a question, the audience for that question can not be changed.

Private Questions are subject to the Question Guidelines.