Particle: AI news summaries and questions, and what the free app includes
Particle summarises news from many publishers with AI and lets you ask questions about a story. The app is free with in-app purchases. Particle+ is listed at ₹299 a month in the India iOS store. Questions are public by default, so do not put private details into them.
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What it is
Particle is a news app and website that uses AI to summarise stories from many publishers. Its App Store listing says it shows news from many sources in one place, summarised as bullet points. You can pick a summary style such as "Explain Like I'm 5" or "The 5Ws", or a different language. You can also ask a question about a story, and Particle says it will answer it. A Play button reads your feed aloud.
How it checks its AI
Particle's own blog post says its summaries go through a multi-step verification process. In that process the AI checks each claim against the source articles and regenerates the summary if a claim is not supported. This is Particle's description of its method. We did not test how well it works.
Is it free
The App Store India listing shows Particle as Free with in-app purchases. The paid plan is Particle+. The listing shows it at ₹299 a month or ₹2,999 a year, and says it adds custom summaries, voice choice, private questions, the full crossword archive and app icons. These are advertised India iOS prices, not a verified checkout or Android price. Check the final charge, renewal and cancellation terms before subscribing. Free download does not mean every feature is free; publisher links may have separate paywalls.
Is it available in India
Yes. The app has an App Store India listing, with English and 18 more languages. We also found the official Mina Labs Google Play listing. Indian account/device install availability and Android pricing were not tested. The iPhone/iPad listing requires iOS/iPadOS 18 or later. When we looked at particle.news, the front page was US-heavy, and Particle does not state how much Indian news it covers.
Privacy before you ask questions
Particle's official Plus announcement says questions and answers are public by default. Plus members can optionally ask private questions visible only to them. Confirm the current question visibility before posting; do not include personal identifiers, confidential work details or sensitive health/financial information. "Private" visibility is not a promise that the service cannot process the question.
The privacy policy says question/comment features use third-party AI providers, and that chat providers may access questions, visited pages, IP address and information shared in chat. It permits sharing with service providers and other parties for stated purposes, and processing outside your home country. It does not promise on-device-only processing or a fixed short deletion window.
You can delete certain content through your account and contact Particle to request account closure. Retention depends on the purpose and legal/accounting/security needs; when no longer needed, data may be deleted, anonymized or isolated. Public content can be copied, cached or screenshotted by others, so deleting it from Particle cannot recall every copy. The privacy policy says the service is not intended for under-13s.
How to try it
- Open particle.news or install from an official store listing and pick topics. Check compatibility and price; no subscription or trial purchase was tested.
- Open a story and read the summary. Look for source citations. If you ask a question, review its public/private setting first.
- Tap through to the original article before relying on a detail. Compare more than one source for disputed claims, and check publication time and later corrections. AI-generated translations or simpler summaries may lose context.
Limits to know
- An AI summary can leave out context or get a detail wrong. For anything important, read the source article.
- The listing says its political spectrum chart and Opposite Sides view show how a story is covered. Treat those labels as Particle's view, not a fact.
- We did not test it ourselves.
Frequently asked questions
Is Particle free?
The app is free with in-app purchases. Particle+ is listed at ₹299 a month or ₹2,999 a year.
Does verification make every summary correct?
No. Particle describes automated source checks and human review of citations, but that is not our independent accuracy test. Sources can also disagree or be wrong. Open the cited reporting for consequential decisions.
Are my questions private?
By default they are public according to the official Plus announcement. Plus offers an optional private mode. Check visibility before posting, and remember the service and its AI providers still process requests.
What changed since launch?
Older Plus announcements said Android was coming soon. There is now an official Google Play listing, but we did not validate Indian account installation or Android prices. This guide also separates free download, paid features and question visibility.
Sources: Particle on the App Store India, Particle blog on verification, particle.news, Particle privacy policy, Particle Plus announcement, Particle on Google Play. Checked 10 October 2026.