Apple's planning to broaden the appeal of Apple News by letting publishers include full-length articles available exclusively to their paying subscribers, according to Reuters. Right now, that's not possible; publishers can only offer free articles and small "previews" that point to a paywall login. But the new approach — not yet confirmed by Apple — could help boost the built-in iOS news application as companies like Facebook (Instant Articles) and Google (Accelerated Mobile Pages) also try to reinvent news delivery with their own publishing formats.

What's not clear is exactly how this system will work. Will consumers be able to sign up for a digital New York Times or Time subscription right from within News? If so, how big of a cut (if any) will Apple want? And will the company be willing to offer publishers more specifics about who's reading their content via the app?

Apple executive Eddy Cue has previously revealed that over 40 million people have tried News. The Reuters report comes a few weeks after Apple announced it would be stepping away from its iAd advertising sales business and moving to an automated platform that will let publishers keep 100 percent of the revenue they earn.