By Jason Snell

August 31, 2021 11:07 AM PT

Tip: Reform wayward Apple News links

A Six Colors subscriber writes:

If you have an Apple News link, is there a way to get the internet source link from it?

Apple News has this annoying habit of refusing to generate proper links for sharing. Instead, every link points to apple.news, which redirects Apple users to the News app and everyone else to a preview page. If you like those links opening directly in News, that’s fine—but if you share a link with someone else, you’re also advertising your use of Apple News and not supplying the real web source address of the story. These links can be especially annoying in some contexts because they obscure the source site and other details (like the keywords in the headline) that people might use to decide if the link is worth a click.

If you’re using Apple News on the Mac, you can find the source by choosing Open in Safari from the File menu, or choosing Safari from the Share menu, then copying the link from Safari. On iOS, you can use this shortcut from the share sheet—in Apple News or by tapping on holding on a link almost anywhere!—to convert the URL and share it.

If you’re not a fan of the Apple News app and would prefer to use your browser, consider using Jeff Johnson’s Mac app StopTheNews, which registers itself as the default opener for Apple News URLs, decodes them, and then sends them to your default web browser. The app launches when invoked and automatically quits when it’s done, so it’s only running for a moment when you click on an Apple News link. (A related app, StopThe MacAppStore, does the same for Mac App Store links.)