Sky News’ digital team has praised the work of a software firm which updated one of its apps.

The media giant asked Ipswich-based two10degrees and its design partner Tricky Business to update its app for Windows 8.1 and provide an engaging user experience for Sky News customers.

Hugh Westbrook, producer for product development with the Sky News digital team, said: “We’ve been impressed with the way this project has been delivered by the two10degrees team, both from a design and technical standpoint. From the beginning they understood the Sky News brand and delivered a very technically competent product. The finished app looks great and is getting strong reviews.”

Liam Daley, two10degrees lead technical developer for the new app, explained that the original Windows application was rich in media content but was often difficult to use.

“Our goal was to build a cleaner and simpler interface using state-of-the-art Windows 8.1 features,” he said.

The app uses Live Tiles on the Start screen and semantic zoom to navigate news sections and stories. Users can be notified of breaking news stories via ‘Toast’ notifications, and Snap View is used to enhance the reading experience. The content can be searched using new Windows 8.1 Search features. The app supports resizable, multimedia video content for news bulletins, and works across a variety of tablet and touch-enabled devices.