Again, tech news, but without the surprise.
In this case, Apple News Plus (News+). CEO Tim Cook today took the wraps off its long expected (and reported) subscription service. For $9.99 per month ($12.99 in Canada) customers will have access to over 300 magazines.
Per Apple, the initial catalog will include National Geographic, Vogue, The New Yorker, People, Elle, Esquire and The Atlantic, among many other popular titles.
“We’re committed to supporting quality journalism, and with Apple News+, we want to celebrate the great work being done by magazines and news outlets,” said Lauren Kern, editor-in-chief of Apple News. “We think the breadth and quality of publications within Apple News+ will encourage more people to discover stories and titles they may never have come across before.”
As with most Apple apps, expect lots of pretty bells and whistles. I the Apple News Plus demo live stream, magazine covers featured moving graphics and images, and the overall experience was very much as an interactive version of a traditional reading experience — much as we saw in the early days of the iPad (Wired magazine?).
Apple News+
From the Apple announcement:
Apple News+ subscribers can access current and past issues and individual articles from magazines such as The Atlantic, Better Homes & Gardens, Bon Appétit, Condé Nast Traveler, ELLE, Entertainment Weekly, ESPN The Magazine, Esquire, Food & Wine, Good Housekeeping, GQ, Health, InStyle, Martha Stewart Living, National Geographic, New York Magazine, The New Yorker, O, The Oprah Magazine, Parents, People, Real Simple, Rolling Stone, Runner’s World, Sports Illustrated, TIME, Travel + Leisure, Vanity Fair, Vogue, WIRED and Woman’s Day.
In addition, Apple News+ includes The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times and Toronto Star, Canada’s largest daily newspaper. Apple News+ also provides access to premium online publications such as theSkimm, The Highlight by Vox, New York Magazine’s sites Vulture, The Cut and Grub Street, and Extra Crunch from Verizon Media’s TechCrunch.
Many will recall Apple’s acquisition of an app called Texture. The all-you-can-eat app was very much like a Netflix service for magazines. Apple has since folded the capability from Texture, given it the typical Apple spit and polish and re-branded and enhanced the app and called it Apple News Plus.
Although The Wall Street Journal will be available, there are some gaps. Most notably The New York Times and Washington Post have still not signed on for whatever the reason — though, safe to say that reason has something to do with money and profit sharing, something Apple is notoriously sticky about (Apple reportedly takes a 50% cut of publisher’s revenue).
Apple News Plus launches today in US and Canada.
How to Start
Apple News+ Trial
- Update your iPhone or iPad to latest OS
[Settings –> General –> Software Update]
- iPhone, iPad: iOS 12.2 or later is required
- Open the Apple News app
- Start News+ Trial:
- iPhone: touch “News+” tab at bottom and follow prompts to start trial
- iPad: slide in from left to reveal sidebar, touch “News+” and follow prompts to start trial
Note: Apple News+ trial is 30 days, and auto renews at $9.99 after. You can share a subscription with family members using Apple’s Family Sharing feature.
Meanwhile, regarding Apple stock (NASDAQ: AAPL) investors seem neither overly bullish nor otherwise regarding the announcements.
As part of its services update Apple also launched Apple TV Plus (a streaming rival to Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime), Apple Arcade (streaming gaming service competitor to the likes of Twitch and Android TV) and an Apple Card credit card.