News & Magazines
CNN: Live & Breaking News
CNN articles, live updates, video and podcasts, with 24/7 streaming for subscribers or TV-provider logins.
Get the app
Opens the official store page
- Developer
- CNN Interactive Group, Inc.
- Score
- 4.8
- Downloads
- 1M+ ratings
- Age
- Rated 17+
- Version
- 26.21.1
- Price
- Free
Screenshots
About this app
Live and breaking coverage is where the CNN app concentrates. Stories arrive as short videos, live-update articles that grow as events develop, interactives, podcasts and live audio, across politics, health, world news, climate and lighter topics like travel and entertainment. Custom alerts follow specific developing stories, and a personalised feed picks articles around your interests. For video, there's a five-minute preview of CNN live, with unlimited viewing of CNN, CNN International and HLN, plus original series and documentaries, after signing in with a TV provider or taking a subscription. CNN Shorts are quick clips that need no login. Audio streams include CNN en Español and CNN International alongside the main CNN feed and HLN, and the 1 Thing podcast covers the week's biggest story. During elections, the interactive Magic Wall tracks state and local results and compares them with past cycles. Subscriptions come in two plans: All Access with streaming and exclusive video, and Basic with unlimited articles only.
CNN: Live & Breaking News: the full guide
What the app is
Breaking news is the organising principle of this app. Stories come as short video, articles that keep growing while an event unfolds, interactives, podcasts and live audio, spanning politics, health, world affairs, climate and lighter beats such as travel. Alerts can be pinned to a single developing story, and a personalised feed sorts articles around stated interests.
The live television side is where money changes hands. A five-minute preview of the main channel is free; unlimited CNN, CNN International and HLN along with original series need either a TV-provider login or a subscription. Election nights bring the Magic Wall for state and local results.
How it works day to day
On an ordinary day you open it for the headlines, scroll the feed, and maybe play a CNN Short, which needs no login. When something big happens, the live-update article becomes the thing you keep returning to, and an alert set on that story nudges you when it moves.
Audio fills commutes: the main CNN feed, CNN en Español, CNN International or the 1 Thing podcast on the week's biggest story. Subscribers or cable customers switch over to the live stream when they'd rather watch than read.
Why people look for it
The search is usually for the CNN live stream without a cable box, and the app is the official route to it. The second reason is election coverage, since the Magic Wall and the live-updates format are things people associate with the channel. A 4.8 rating from more than a million reviewers says the app itself isn't getting in the way.
Look and feel
News & Magazines apps tend toward a dense feed of cards with video thumbnails, and five screenshots on the page is enough to show the feed, a live stream player, an audio screen and probably the election Magic Wall. Expect CNN's red and white branding and a layout that puts the breaking banner at the top of everything.
Updates and upkeep
Version 26.21.1 looks like a year-based numbering scheme, which would place this build in 2026 and implies steady releases. CNN Interactive Group is the publisher, and the 4.8 average across 1M+ ratings is about as strong as a news app gets. Only the App Store is linked on this page, so the Android build isn't covered here.
