Although it’s generally agreed that the content of the Onion News Network, the satirical news channel from the people behind The Onion, is humorous and worth watching, I’m not sure the video channel merits its own free app for iPhone and iPod Touch. Fans of The Onion would likely already have The Onion app, which includes newspaper content, audio and, you guessed it, ONN clips. Should users devote two springboard spots to Onion content? The folders of OS4 make that more convenient, but still, probably not.
Nevertheless, if you only want your fake news in video format, the Onion News Network is a good place to start. You can view video by popularity, by show (such as Today Now, The News Room and Tech Trends), view editors’ picks or search the entire ONN archives. Clips launch quickly and streamed over 3G service with few issues—although I did have some problems with the sound dropping out on more than one occasion.
The Onion News Network app, like The Onion iPhone app, is sponsored by Jack Link’s Beef Jerky, so in addition to the opening splash page ad, the snack food also gets banner ads on most pages and a dedicated Jack Link’s tab at the top of the screen. I can’t really fault ONN for trying to make money off a free app, but a separate category for ad clips seems like overkill.
