Shelf Control: Free magazine issues are right at your fingertips with Issuu for iOS

For this week’s edition of Shelf Control, we’re going to take a look at the recently released iOS app of the popular digital publishing platform Issuu.

Issuu for iOS lets you enjoy the eponymous platform’s free digital newsstand service right on your iOS device, be it an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. What’s more, the app has been duly optimized for the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus.

And I must say that Issuu is one of the most beautiful apps I’ve ever seen and used, with a clean look and feel plus neat interface touches throughout. In particular, it shines on the larger, Retina HD displays of the new iPhones.

But whichever compatible iOS device you own, if you like reading magazines, you’re likely to enjoy using Issuu.

To get the most out of Issuu, you’re encouraged to use the app with an Issuu account. You may log in to the app using your existing Issuu account or create a new one right within the app. You can then specify your interests (e.g. arts, design, technology) on which content is going to be based and personalized for you from millions of publications, including NYT Style, Everyday Food, Sport Magazine, and Emma.

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One of the best things about Issuu is its Offline Readlist feature, which, as its name suggests, lets you read magazines even without an Internet connection. Just long-press on any publication and tap the eyeglasses icon to add to your Offline Readlist.

Long-pressing on a publication also gives you options for viewing related publications, liking, sharing, and adding to a stack. A stack is a collection of magazines that lets you maintain a seamless reading experience across your devices.

Issuu also lets you pick up where you left off between Apple devices using Handoff in iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite.

The app, by the way, presents publications in clear, full-color scrollable pages, with support for pan and zoom.