Hearst Magazines Join Apple's 'In App Subscription' Program

093804 esquire popular mechanics o

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.

Related Roundup: iPad
Buyer's Guide: iPad (Neutral)
Related Forum: iPad

Popular Stories

iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
iPhone 14 Pro Dynamic Island

iPhone 18 Pro Leak Adds New Evidence for Under-Display Face ID

Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker. According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds Second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Monday December 8, 2025 10:18 am PST by
Apple today seeded the second release candidate version of iOS 26.2 to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming one week after Apple seeded the first RC. The release candidate represents the final version iOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found. Registered developers and public beta testers can download the betas from the Settings app on...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Monday December 1, 2025 2:40 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
Johny Srouji

Apple's Chipmaking Chief Johny Srouji Responds to Report About Him Potentially Leaving

Monday December 8, 2025 9:23 am PST by
Apple's chipmaking chief Johny Srouji has reportedly indicated that he plans to continue working for the company for the foreseeable future. "I love my team, and I love my job at Apple, and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon," said Srouji, in a memo obtained by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Here is Srouji's full memo, as shared by Bloomberg:I know you've been reading all kind of rumors and...
Johny Srouji

Apple Chip Chief Johny Srouji Could Be Next to Go as Exodus Continues

Sunday December 7, 2025 10:41 am PST by
Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji could be the next leading executive to leave the company amid an alarming exodus of leading employees, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. Srouji apparently recently told CEO Tim Cook that he is "seriously considering leaving" in the near future. He intends to join another company if he departs. Srouji leads Apple's chip design ...
Intel Inside iPhone Feature

Apple's Return to Intel Rumored to Extend to iPhone

Friday December 5, 2025 10:08 am PST by
Intel is expected to begin supplying some Mac and iPad chips in a few years, and the latest rumor claims the partnership might extend to the iPhone. In a research note with investment firm GF Securities this week, obtained by MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu said he and his colleagues "now expect" Intel to reach a supply deal with Apple for at least some non-pro iPhone chips starting in 2028....
google pixel 10

Switching Between iPhone and Android Will Get Easier With New Apple and Google Collaboration

Monday December 8, 2025 11:10 am PST by
Apple and Google are teaming up to make it easier for users to switch between iPhone and Android smartphones, according to 9to5Google. There is a new Android Canary build available today that simplifies data transfer between two smartphones, and Apple is going to implement the functionality in an upcoming iOS 26 beta. Apple already has a Move to iOS app for transferring data from an Android...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature 1

Apple to Make More Foldable iPhones Than Expected

Tuesday December 9, 2025 9:59 am PST by
Apple has ordered 22 million OLED panels from Samsung Display for the first foldable iPhone, signaling a significantly larger production target than the display industry had previously anticipated, ET News reports. In the now-seemingly deleted report, ET News claimed that Samsung plans to mass-produce 11 million inward-folding OLED displays for Apple next year, as well as 11 million...
Apple Fitness Plus expansion hero

Apple Fitness+ Coming to 28 New Regions With Digital Voice Dubbing

Monday December 8, 2025 6:19 am PST by
Apple today announced that Fitness+ is expanding to 28 new markets on December 15 in the service's largest international rollout since launch, accompanied by new language dubbing and a K-Pop music genre. Apple Fitness+ will become available in Chile, Hong Kong, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, Taiwan, and additional regions on December 15, with Japan scheduled to follow early next year....

Top Rated Comments

steviemax Avatar
191 months ago
Zinio

How is that economically viable when you can purchase Ipad subscriptions, through Zinio, for $8 (Esquire) and, $12 (Popular Mechanics) ??
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
grahamwright1 Avatar
191 months ago
It's still a tough sale when you can get a year's subscription to the print edition for $6 to $10, so I'm not interested in paying $19.95 for a year's subscription that eliminates the paper and physical distribution costs. Until the annual iTunes subscription is in the same range as the discounted print subscriptions, the market is going to be limited here.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fjfjfjfj Avatar
191 months ago
It's still a tough sale when you can get a year's subscription to the print edition for $6 to $10, so I'm not interested in paying $19.95 for a year's subscription that eliminates the paper and physical distribution costs. Until the annual iTunes subscription is in the same range as the discounted print subscriptions, the market is going to be limited here.

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.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rdowns Avatar
191 months ago
These companies don't get it. Their readership is aging and dying. They're trying to attract a younger audience by offering them digital subscriptions at a higher rate than print subscriptions. Do they employ marketing people?

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.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Lesser Evets Avatar
191 months ago
They don't understand: what do they provide that people would pay for?

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.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lazyrighteye Avatar
191 months ago
Wow... Pricing structure...
Short. Sighted.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)