Which news app gives you the complete picture? Compare India's popular short-news app with AI-powered bias detection.
Inshorts revolutionized news consumption in India with its 60-word news format. But does quick always mean complete? The Balanced News takes a different approach - using AI to show you how 50+ news sources cover the same story from different political perspectives. Let's compare these two popular news apps to help you decide which one's right for you.
Disclosure: This comparison was written by The Balanced News team. We've aimed to be fair to both apps, but readers should be aware of our perspective.
Inshorts was founded in 2013 by Azhar Iqubal, Anunay Arunav, and Deepit Purkayastha as a news aggregation app that condenses stories into exactly 60 words. The concept was inspired by the founders' observation that young Indians wanted to stay informed but didn't have time for long articles. Originally called "News in Shorts," the app quickly gained traction among college students and young professionals.
In 2020, Inshorts' parent company — Roposo — was acquired by Glance (part of InMobi Group) in a deal that valued the combined entity at over $1 billion. The app has evolved beyond its original 60-word format to include short video content (through Glance) and card-based navigation. However, its core value proposition remains the same: quick news consumption without the need to read full articles.
While Inshorts made news consumption faster, it never addressed the fundamental question of which perspective you're getting in those 60 words. A complex political story condensed into 60 words necessarily reflects the summarizer's editorial choices about what to include and what to omit — choices that Inshorts doesn't make transparent to users.
| Feature | The Balanced News | Inshorts |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Source Bias Detection | ✓ | ✗ |
| News Sources | 50+ sources compared | Editorially curated |
| Reading Speed | 2-5 minutes per story | 15 seconds (60 words) |
| Political Bias Scores (Left/Center/Right) | ✓ | ✗ |
| Short Summaries | AI-generated | Human-written 60 words |
| Offline Reading | ✗ | ✓ |
| Lens Score (Underreported Story Detection) | ✓ | ✗ |
| Language Support | 7 languages | Hindi, English |
| Personalized Feeds | 40+ curated feeds | ✓ |
| Sentiment Analysis | ✓ | ✗ |
| Breaking News | ✓ | ✓ |
| User Base | Growing (10K+) | Established (millions) |
| Free to Use | ✓ | ✓ |
| Dark Mode | ✓ | ✓ |
| Card-Based Swiping | ✗ | ✓ |
AI-generated summaries with full article access. Every summary links to the original sources so you can dive deeper. Multiple source summaries for the same story show you different angles.
Strict 60-word summaries written by editorial team. Format prioritizes brevity over context. Card-based interface encourages swiping through headlines quickly.
Inshorts is faster for scanning headlines, but TBN provides the context needed for genuine understanding. For complex stories — elections, economic policies, international relations — 60 words cannot capture the nuance that matters.
AI-powered bias detection scores every story on a political spectrum. Shows left, center, and right coverage side by side. Lens Score identifies stories being underreported by mainstream media.
No bias detection or perspective comparison. Stories are presented as neutral summaries without indicating the source's editorial position or political leaning.
This is the fundamental difference. Inshorts tells you what happened in 60 words. TBN shows you how different outlets frame the same event — revealing the editorial choices that shape your understanding.
50+ sources compared openly. Each story shows which outlets covered it and how their coverage differed. You can see source-level bias patterns over time.
Sources are attributed but not compared. No mechanism to see how different outlets covered the same story differently. Source selection is editorial, not transparent.
Source comparison is crucial for media literacy. TBN treats sources as data points to compare; Inshorts treats them as raw material for summaries. Both approaches have value, but only TBN helps you understand the media landscape.
Lens Score algorithm surfaces underreported stories that mainstream media ignores. Category-based browsing with trending indicators. AI identifies stories with unusually one-sided coverage.
Trending-based curation with category filters. Algorithmic feed based on reading patterns. Notifications for breaking news. Tends toward popular/viral content.
Inshorts helps you keep up with what everyone is talking about. TBN helps you discover what no one is talking about but should be. The Lens Score is a fundamentally different approach to news discovery.
Example: Coverage of a Major Political Rally
When a major political rally makes headlines, here's how the experience differs between the two apps:
On Inshorts: You see a 60-word summary: "PM Modi addressed a rally in [city] today, criticizing the opposition's stance on [issue] and promising [policy]. The rally drew [number] supporters. Opposition leaders called the promises 'unrealistic.'" You swipe to the next card.
On The Balanced News: You see how Republic TV covered the rally (emphasizing crowd size and leader's oratory), how NDTV covered it (focusing on fact-checking claims made), how The Hindu covered it (analyzing policy implications), and how The Wire covered it (examining what wasn't said). The bias meter shows the coverage split. The Lens Score flags related stories about the policy's previous implementation that most outlets ignored.
The Inshorts version takes 15 seconds to read. The TBN version takes 3-5 minutes. But only one actually helps you understand what happened and form an informed opinion. The question is: which investment of time matches your needs?
If you just want quick headlines, Inshorts works well. But if you care about understanding media bias, seeing all perspectives, and discovering underreported stories through our Lens Score, The Balanced News is the better choice. Our AI finds important news that mainstream media ignores - something no other Indian news app offers.
Switching from Inshorts to The Balanced News is straightforward. Download TBN from the App Store or Google Play. The interface will feel different — instead of swiping through cards, you'll see stories grouped by topic with multiple source perspectives visible. Start with the "Trending" tab to see the same stories you'd find on Inshorts, but with bias analysis and source comparison added.
Many users keep both apps: Inshorts for a 2-minute morning scan of headlines, and The Balanced News for deeper engagement with the 3-4 stories that actually matter to their lives. The apps serve complementary purposes rather than being direct substitutes.