New El Tiempo App
A new mobile experience for iOS and Android
The Challenge
El Tiempo, Colombia’s most important news outlet, set out to transform the way its readers consume news and information on mobile devices. The goal was to develop a modern, intuitive, and powerful app that offered a completely renewed experience, fully adapted to current digital habits.
The challenge was complex: as the country’s most widely reached media outlet, it was essential to consider a wide diversity of user profiles — spanning different ages, interests, and consumption habits. Moreover, the product had to meet the expectations of younger generations with a fresh and dynamic interface, while also offering advanced and exclusive features for subscribers, thereby enhancing the value of the digital business model.
The Analysis
During the analysis stage, extensive research was conducted focusing on user behavior and their needs within the mobile environment. Usability testing, user experience (UX) studies, and comparative analyses with other leading market applications were carried out. This process was essential to define the navigation design, prioritize key features, and ensure a smooth, intuitive, and personalized experience for every type of reader.
The Technology
Developing an application of this scale — with multiple features, diverse content formats, and high performance standards — represented a significant technical challenge. Choosing the Flutter framework was key to achieving efficient development and native-level performance on both iOS and Android platforms, overcoming the limitations of other cross-platform environments.
The project required a deep understanding of information flows, as well as the implementation of scalable architectures that allowed the integration of:
- Different content formats (text, audio, video, podcasts, among others).
- Integrated ads without disrupting the reading experience.
- Background processing for constant content updates.
- Integrations with paywalls and premium subscription systems.
- Connections with advanced analytics platforms for data-driven decision-making..
The combination of these elements made it possible to build a robust, efficient application that meets international standards and is capable of competing with the apps of the world’s leading media outlets.
Results and Impact
The new El Tiempo app marked a milestone in the newspaper’s digital transformation. Thanks to its complete redesign and cutting-edge technological integration, it achieved:
Increased Usage Time: Significantly increased the average session duration.
Retention and New Audiences: Improved subscriber retention and attracted new audiences.
Efficient Advertising: Optimized ad performance without compromising the reading experience.
Innovation and Leadership: Positioned itself as one of the most innovative news apps in Latin America.
The project not only redefined the newspaper’s relationship with its readers but also established El Tiempo as a technological benchmark within the digital publishing industry.