A local news app should afford efficient access to headlines, traffic, weather, scores, some video. It took local newsrooms a while to figure this out, but after numerous reinventions some finally pass muster. Channel 4 edges Channel 2 for best in class: WSMV has a clean interface with crisp response and timely updates inside the app, with a slick interactive weather map. WKRN-Channel 2’s app is solid, with better video than 4’s, though on the whole not as intuitive in look and feel. Memo to Channel 5: An app in which every click slowly opens a URL in a browser is not actually an app.
