You can now have Siri-powered news podcast with the latest iOS beta

If you are a lazy person who likes to get their cup of tea and news in their bed, there's a good news for you. Apple has enhanced Siri's features in the latest iOS 11.2.5 beta with the ability to stream news podcast whenever asked about the news. The feature, first reported by 9to5Mac, will only work on iOS 11.2.5 and not on the older versions of iOS including 11.2.1 which is the latest public version.

When you ask, "Hey Siri, give me the news," you'll get a daily news podcast from The Washington Post. You can also ask Siri to use Fox News, NPR or CNN. If you activate Siri with the Home button, you'll only get a list of top headlines from Apple News (if installed) or, as noted by 9to5Mac, a list of headlines from Safari. This is how Siri operates if you don't have the new beta, too.

Amazon's Alexa and Google's Home have daily news briefings, too, though they offer a few more options like reading the headlines and story summaries and choosing from more news sources and podcasts

Though the new feature is designed keeping in mind the Apple Homepod, it could become a big hit if integrated into the latest iPhone models. Being able to get quick updates on your devices without much ado could appeal to many.