CNN has launched a new free app for the iPad aimed at offering a more visual news experience.

 The CNN App for iPad combines images with  reporting from CNN, including text stories, blog posts, photo galleries, and live or on-demand video. Users have the ability to toggle between U.S. and international news.

The app has a user comment feature that runs alongside content on the screen. Users can share text stories, images and videos from the app via email, Facebook and Twitter.

The CNN App for iPad has three viewing options:

*Broadsheet, the default view, displays up to 350 news stories in a grid-format featuring images and headlines.

*List View features a running list of headlines by topic and category.

*Slide Show allows users to scroll through a visual presentation of the day’s top headlines.

CNN says the app will be updated in real-time as stories break, and users will be alerted of breaking news via Push Notification.