Review: New York Post for iPad - a New Look for an Old Newspaper
January 16, 2011
Overview
Newspapers have it rough these days with readers now collecting their information from websites, cell phone and tablet apps and even the good ol’ television. The problem is that physical newspapers talk about yesterday’s news and when we live in a society where RSS feeds deliver headlines by the minute, yesterday just doesn’t cut it. Some newspaper corporations have thrown their hands in the air and called it quits. Others, on the other hand, have attempted to transform and grow with the digital trends in an attempt to stay alive. Desperate times inspire innovation and app for the nation’s oldest daily newspaper, the New York Post, is testament to that fact. Opting for a full, paid model over bare-bones free varieties offered by competitors such as USA Today and CNN, this New York Post app offers, if nothing else, a ton of content.
Features
All of the key sections of the actual newspaper are included in each addition including News, Page Six, Opinion, Pulse, Business and Sports. You will find almost all of the same content as the physical paper except for TV listings, Movie Clock, weather and games. You also have access to seven days worth of newspapers.
Along with the static features of the paper edition, the New York Post iPad app includes dynamic features including picture slideshows and video clips. It was nice to read an article about the upcoming movie ‘The Green Hornet’ and then see a video review with clips of the show.
Navigation is similar to other news apps with side-swiping to switch between articles and up and down scrolling to read them. Some pages are separated in to multiple columns and each can be scrolled separately. There are tips included to assist you in learning all of the navigation techniques.
The initial $1.99 download fee entitles you to 30 days and after that you have to pay for a subscription via in-app purchase. Each month is $6.99, six months is $39.99 and a year is $74.99.
The Good
News lovers will love the amount of content the New York Times iPad app provides. Massive amounts of content isn’t rare in today’s information age, but well written content all in one place often is.
The pricing will be the make it or break it feature for most interested buyers, but when you consider there is a new edition every day, $75 a year is quite realistic.
Navigation is simple and mostly free of hiccups and an FAQ section is available to assist you for all of your burning questions. You can also tap and hold to share and article via email, Twitter or Facebook.
There is a ‘Make Your Own Cover’ feature that allows you to use news pics to come up with your own headline and cover. You can then save it for future viewing, email it to a friend or submit it to the gallery to compete with other readers creations. Props for trying to add new features, but most will see it as a novelty more than anything else.
The Bad
I understand that any company needs to make money, and I have no problems with a newspaper charging for a subscription, but it has always rubbed me wrong when you pay for something only to be bombarded with advertisements. The NYP ads are basically non-invasive, but are still there around every corner.
Those not familiar with the New York Post may be turned off by the semi-tabloid look and half baked photo manipulation. It would also be nice to have a comment feature for the articles as this is one of my favorite things about the new (free) CNN app.
Another odd thing was that as I dissected the stats section, I noticed that there was at least one egregious error. In the NBA standings, instead of showing the current win and loss streaks, it only said win. Claiming that the Cavs are on a current 11 game win streak is unforgivable. This was the only error I saw like that, but it made me wonder if there were more. (This can be seen in one of the pictures below)
