Google News Gets An Updated Look On Tablets, Support For Gestures

Google just announced that it is updating the design of the Google News reading experience on tablets, including the Nexus 7, Nexus 10 and iPad. The new design, says Google, will make the service feel “even more natural and fluid on tablet devices.”

Specifically, Google News product manager Mayuresh Saoji writes in today’s announcement that the new design adds “more breathing room between articles, making it easier to spot the stories you really care about.”

The service, which according to Google drives over 6 billion pageviews per month to the news sites it links, is also getting a few smaller feature updates on tablets. You can now, for example, use gestures to “find new articles, news sources, and even topics of interest with intuitive gestures.” Swiping horizontally, for example, allows you to switch between sections.

Similar to a feature that’s already available on the web, tapping “Explore in depth” on your tablet now also brings up other articles and information related to a particular story.

Today’s update follows a number of small changes the company made to the Google News tablet experience earlier this year, including the new navigation menu at the top of the Google News page that’s now become a standard design feature of a number of other Google products, as well.

For the time being, this update will only be available to users in the U.S. and is scheduled to roll out slowly over the next few days. To give it a try, just head to news.google.com and see if it’s already available for you.