Hearst Magazines Join Apple's 'In App Subscription' Program
The Wall Street Journal reports that Hearst Corporation has agreed to Apple's terms for in app subscriptions, making plans to begin selling subscriptions to several of its magazine titles beginning with their July issues.
Starting with their July issues, iPad apps for Esquire, Popular Mechanics and O, The Oprah Magazine, will be available through a service from Apple that allows customers to sign up for subscriptions inside the apps and get billed automatically. Subscriptions to all three publications will be sold for $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year.
Only a few publications have begun using Apple's iTunes subscription service, launched in February. Hearst is the first major magazine publisher to commit to selling subscriptions to multiple titles through it.
Hearst noted that it will also offer subscription access to its newspaper titles and other content in the future.
The development marks another significant victory for Apple in its push to bring magazine content to the iPad. Just days ago, it was revealed that Apple and Time Inc. have struck a deal to allow subscribers to the print editions of Sports Illustrated, Time, and Fortune to access the digital editions of those titles on the iPad free of charge. Time has yet to commit, however, to offering standalone iPad subscriptions for those titles.
Popular Stories
Game emulator apps have come and gone since Apple announced App Store support for them on April 5, but now popular game emulator Delta from developer Riley Testut is available for download. Testut is known as the developer behind GBA4iOS, an open-source emulator that was available for a brief time more than a decade ago. GBA4iOS led to Delta, an emulator that has been available outside of...
The first approved Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) emulator for the iPhone and iPad was made available on the App Store today following Apple's rule change. The emulator is called Bimmy, and it was developed by Tom Salvo. On the App Store, Bimmy is described as a tool for testing and playing public domain/"homebrew" games created for the NES, but the app allows you to load ROMs for any...
Last September, Apple's iPhone 15 Pro models debuted with a new customizable Action button, offering faster access to a handful of functions, as well as the ability to assign Shortcuts. Apple is poised to include the feature on all upcoming iPhone 16 models, so we asked iPhone 15 Pro users what their experience has been with the additional button so far. The Action button replaces the switch ...
A decade ago, developer Riley Testut released the GBA4iOS emulator for iOS, and since it was against the rules at the time, Apple put a stop to downloads. Emulators have been a violation of the App Store rules for years, but that changed on April 5 when Apple suddenly reversed course and said that it was allowing retro game emulators on the App Store. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel ...
iOS 18 is expected to be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. iOS 18 is rumored to include new generative AI features for Siri and many apps, and Apple plans to add RCS support to the Messages app for an improved texting experience between iPhones and Android devices. The update is also expected to introduce a more...
Top Rated Comments
How is that economically viable when you can purchase Ipad subscriptions, through Zinio, for $8 (Esquire) and, $12 (Popular Mechanics) ??
Absolutely right. And what I hate to see is these companies come out in six months and say the iPad model does not work. There will be low demand because people aren't willing to pay $19.99 a month for something they can get for $10 a month and the consumer knows the publisher is able to produce it a lower rates.
Here's my free marketing advice to these idiots. We know your money is made based on selling reader demographics. Offer the subscriber something (longer subscription, exclusive content) in exchange for them agreeing to provide demographic information.
Who buys magazines anymore when the news/info they give is sloppy, old, and an excuse to have ads on every other page? $5 a pop or $1 a go, it's intrinsically worthless. They need to try harder with what they provide to set them apart from flyers delivered for free in my mailbox.
Short. Sighted.