The latest iOS 13.5.5 beta has revealed a new audio feature for the company’s Apple News Plus service that adds podcast-style recordings of longform articles to the app, as discovered by 9to5Mac. Apple was reportedly working on the feature earlier this year, but the newly revealed section of the News app marks the first real look at the audio endeavor.
The beta adds a new “Audio” tab to the Apple News app where the audio versions of stories will be collected. The tab isn’t fully functional yet; right now, there are no actual recordings that play. But in the version of the app found by 9to5Mac, articles from The Wall Street Journal, Wired, People, Variety, and New York Magazine had audio versions, although it’s almost certain that Apple…