News

Pugpig announces partnership with Newspack, bringing premium mobile apps to local publishers

Our new partnership with Newspack makes it easier and more affordable for local publishers to build fully native, deeply engaging mobile apps. Read more about the partnership and the publishers already live with feature-rich apps.

3rd September 2025

We are pleased to announce an exciting new partnership with Newspack, making it easier and more affordable for local publishers to build fully native, deeply engaging mobile apps.

Newspack is the WordPress-powered publishing platform for local news organisations, and this new partnership gives local news organisations the tools they need to effortlessly engage audiences across web and mobile via one integrated platform and without adding complexity to their workflows.

With this partnership, Newspack publishers can now:

Offer readers a premium app experience with fewer ads, faster loading, and rich formats like audio, video, live news, puzzles, and digital editions.
Choose between a lightweight app option or a full-featured Pugpig Bolt app, depending on budget and goals.
Publish to mobile without additional editorial effort thanks to our direct integration with the Newspack CMS.
Launch quickly and cost-effectively, with apps available across both app stores.

News publishers are already live and leveraging this new partnership

Lookout Local’s Lookout Santa Cruz and Lookout Eugene-Springfield: Santa Cruz was the first Newspack publisher to launch with Pugpig Bolt, with Eugene-Springfield following closely behind and more on the way.

“Newspack has been the center of our tech stack rationalization, lowering costs and propelling faster reader revenue growth. Now we’re glad to sync in Pugpig’s app product and experience,” said Ken Doctor, Founder of Lookout Local.

After launching three fresh news websites on Newspack, All Island Media is another publisher that has now rolled out Pugpig-powered apps for the Jersey Evening Post and Bailiwick Express.

“Between the launch of three fresh news websites on Newspack and the introduction of new apps with Pugpig, the last few months have seen the biggest digital transformation in our history,” said James Filleul, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of All Island Media.

Missouri-based Houston Herald has launched its Pugpig Bolt app, bringing together personalisation, local events, and a weekly e-paper within a metered paywall designed to drive engagement and subscriber growth.

“Partnering with Pugpig and Newspack has transformed how we deliver news at the Houston Herald,” said Isaiah Buse, Houston Herald owner/editor. “The app launch was seamless and gives our readers a faster, more engaging way to connect with local news. We’ve already seen strong adoption and positive feedback, and we’re confident this partnership will help us grow our audience while keeping community news at the center of what we do.”

And Newspapers of New England is one of the most recent publishers leveraging the Pugpig-Newspack integration, launching premium, feature-rich mobile apps for five of their most esteemed titles, with one more launching soon.

Built for engagement and growth

With Pugpig Bolt, Newspack publishers can build feature-rich mobile apps that include:

Personalised timelines and dynamic content feeds
Integrated audio, video, and podcast support
Features designed for habit and loyalty, from puzzles to push notifications
Native features like dark mode, text resize, deep linking, and search
Analytics integrations with Google Analytics and Parse.ly

“Pugpig has done a tremendous job developing apps for large media organizations. By working together, we hope to bring that same opportunity to local publishers at an affordable price,” said Kinsey Wilson, Founder of Newspack.

Looking ahead, the partnership aims to bring premium mobile apps to more Newspack publishers, supporting stronger audience engagement and sustainable growth across local media organisations.

Jonny Kaldor, CEO of Pugpig said: “It’s long been a personal goal of mine to build a partnership with Kinsey and the Newspack team – what they do is so important for local news media and we’re extremely happy to be able to get involved with their awesome work”

Whether you’re already a Newspack publisher or exploring your next steps with mobile apps, we’d love to help – get in touch to see how you can strengthen your app strategy. In the meantime, take a look at some of our recent launches for yourself: