How Briefly works.
Briefly is an automated news summarizer. It does no original reporting and has no newsroom. This page explains where stories come from, how they are chosen and summarized, what the software checks, and what to do when it gets something wrong.
Last reviewed September 21, 2026 · App version 2.1.8
Where stories come from
Briefly reads the RSS feeds and news APIs of a fixed list of outlets: wire services, national and international newspapers and broadcasters, business, technology, science and sports publications, and outlets from across the political spectrum. An outlet has to be on Briefly’s allowlist before any of its stories can appear.
The mix changes from day to day. Feeds go down, some outlets block automated readers, and busy news days favor the outlets that publish most. As a measured example: in the 72 hours to September 21, 2026, Briefly published 2,973 stories from about 80 outlets. The outlet directory inside the app (How Briefly Works) lists every outlet Briefly can draw on, including some that were not producing stories at the time.
Stories stay in the app for 72 hours. Briefs stay for seven days.
How stories are ranked
Stories are ranked for editorial significance, recency, source diversity, and balance across categories. They are not ranked by your reading history, engagement metrics, political alignment, or advertisers, and Briefly carries no ads.
When several outlets cover the same event, Briefly groups them so one story can show more than one source, and you can compare the coverage.
How a summary is written
For each story, Briefly fetches the original article and an AI language model writes the summary. No person reviews it before it appears. What a Briefly summary contains is described in detail on its own page.
- Neutral language: no loaded or combative words
- Every claim, accusation, and opinion attributed to whoever made it
- Opinion columns and reviews are left out: Briefly summarizes news, not takes
- A link back to the original reporting on every story
Every summary passes automated screens for loaded language, invented dates and names, and unattributed claims before it reaches the feed. Summaries that fail are regenerated under stricter rules or dropped.
How the daily brief is put together
Twice a day Briefly picks five of the most important stories, an AI model writes a short script about them, and a single AI narrator voice reads it in about three minutes. Neither the script nor the audio is reviewed by a person before it is published. Briefs are ready around 6 AM and 6 PM local time in US time zones and the UK, and around 7 AM and 7 PM in central Europe.
Most outlets carry a leaning label: left, center-left, center, center-right, or right, or “none” for topical outlets such as sports and entertainment. The labels are Briefly’s own, set with reference to published media-bias ratings, and they describe the outlet, never an individual story. Outlets without a political label count as unrated. In the 72 hours to September 21, 2026, 63 of the 82 outlets that produced stories had a left-to-right label, 16 were marked “none,” and 3 had no label yet.
Each brief’s script tells you how its five stories split, for example “one left-leaning and three centrist outlets, plus one unrated outlet.”
Markets and your portfolio
The Markets tab follows the same principles as the news feed. Quotes, charts, and stats come from third-party market data sources and are delayed, never real-time, and the app always says so. Company news mixes Briefly’s summarized stories with links to original coverage.
- Share counts and costs are entered by you, never pulled from a broker
- Portfolio data is stored privately with your account, never sold, shared, or used for ads
- Spoken market briefs are assembled from quote data and your own entries using fixed templates; the AI voice reads the script and never invents a number
- Price alerts cover crypto prices only
- Briefly shows information and the news behind it; it never recommends buying or selling anything, and nothing in the app is investment advice
Corrections and feedback
If a story or brief gets something wrong, email support@trdventures.net with the headline, the time you saw it, and what is wrong. A screenshot helps. Reports go to TRD Ventures, the developer of Briefly.
Because stories leave the app after 72 hours and briefs after seven days, there is often no live copy left to fix. Reports are used to fix the cause: a feed, a summarizing rule, or a screen that missed something. Corrections to pages on this website are dated on the page itself.
No echo chambers
Most news feeds learn what gets your attention and keep showing you more of it. Briefly is designed differently: coverage aims for diversity, topics can be de-emphasized rather than hidden, and breaking news is not gated behind engagement loops.
What Briefly does not track
Briefly does not build a profile of your political beliefs, infer ideology from swipe behavior, or use your reading habits to target you with ads.
It records which stories you open and roughly how long each stays on screen, to power your reading stats; that does not change what you are shown. It uses Google Analytics for Firebase for product statistics and Firebase Crashlytics for crash reports. Saved stories and preferences sync to your account. The privacy policy has the full list.
What stays free
Every story, every brief to read, one full audio brief a day, and the Markets watchlist, quotes, and charts are free, with no ads. Briefly+ adds every audio brief, Ask Briefly, offline briefs, portfolio tracking, spoken market briefs, and crypto price alerts.
Who makes Briefly
Briefly is built and run by TRD Ventures LLC, which publishes it on the App Store. About Briefly has the product facts and contact details.
