 |
   |
Visit min's sister site:  |
|
|
|
|
THE MONEY SHOT
Newsstand Arrives on iOS: A First ReadWednesday, October 12, 2011 Long rumored, then promised, Apple finally made good on erecting a separate section on its iOS devices for consumers to discover, buy save and manage subscription .png) content from the Apple App Store. The iOS version 5 update for iPhone and iPad was made available yesterday (Oct. 12) and with it a new icon appears on everyone’s home page, looking like an empty periodical rack from the local library. Publishers have to participate in the Newsstand infrastructure for their publications to be downloaded automatically into the Newsstand folder icon. The new system is designed to let publishers push new content out to the iOS devices in background so the latest issues are visible even at the home screen icon level. A number of magazine brands issued app updates yesterday to bring their publications up to date for iOS 5. In the iPad experience the Newsstand icon telescopes open to reveal a shelf of the most current covers of the subscribed content. The app has a merchandising function in that it shows the newest issue even if the user has not purchased it. Tapping on the individual app brings up the same app the user has always used. Many of the apps however now can benefit from the more streamlined notification system in iOS 5. The upgrade adds a centralized messaging console where all messages that used to be intrusive pop-ups now are stored. When a user is in any app, an incoming message will no longer break the flow and instead appears at the top of the display. The user can later pull down from the top of any screen to reveal recent messages and act upon them. This more polite system is likely to make iOS users more amenable to opting into letting their apps notify them of new issues and content. The Newsstand also allows the user to shop specifically for subscription content in a dedicated store that is accessible from the Newsstand app. This special section of the iTunes store looks pretty much the same as any other, but it segregates the periodical content from the half million other apps in the store, presumably making it more easily discoverable by consumers. By the end of the first day of iOS 5 release we found 136 periodicals in the store section. Many of them were UK titles from Future. But many of the premiere US titles are already featured in the iTunes Newsstand: ELLE, Wired, National Geographic, Popular Science, Martha Stewart Living, O: The Oprah Magazine, Fitness, The New Yorker, etc. were there. Whether the iOS Newsstand gives periodical publishers a real tool for merchandising remains to be seen. Apple's commitment to the format seems modest and not nearly as aggressive as Barnes & Noble's highlighting of magazine content in its Nook Color store and operating system. Sampling still is not here, and the Newsstand app itself offers no real opportunity for publishers to merchandise or cross-sell new offerings. Still, anything that helps the subscription model and branded media rise above the relentless flow of other apps in the store is welcome. We're just not convinced Apple has its heart in it quite yet. 
Take min's fun quiz and find out how magazine-savvy you are! COMMENTS
|
min's Digital Media Summit
App Central min's App Central (for min subscribers only): Stay on top of mobile app developments with exclusive app reviews, analysis and data. 
Please enter the following information to have a link to The Skinny emailed to your iPhone:
White Papers
min Contests
min Press
 Events Calendar
min's Integrated Marketing Awards |
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
| Copyright © 2012 Access Intelligence, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Access Intelligence, LLC is prohibited. For more details please see Terms and Conditions. |
