Next Issue Media today unveiled a new iPad app that they promise will do for magazines what Netflix did for television shows and movies – offer an unlimited supply of magazine content on your iPad for one monthly price.
Offered by Condè Nast, Hearst, Meredith, News Corp., and Time, the free Next Issue app offers access to 39 magazine titles, including GQ, Wired, and Fortune. In the coming months, other titles will be added.
The details
There are two packages available: Basic and Premium.
With the $9.99 Basic membership, you’ll have unlimited access to 34 of some of the most popular magazines today. These include Esquire, Real Simple, Popular Mechanics, and others.
The Premium package, priced at $14.99, offers five additional magazine titles not available on the Basic plan, including Entertainment Weekly, People, Sports Illustrated, The New Yorker, and Time.
Keep in mind: Your subscription doesn’t just give you access to current issues. Rather, you’ll also be able to download previous issues too – assuming, of course you keep your membership active.
You can also purchase single issues or subscribe to a single magazine. Additionally, depending on the magazine title, existing print subscribers may qualify for a free or discounted digital subscription.
For more information on this, be sure to check the Next Issue F.A.Q. page.
Take a look:
Becoming a customer
Next Issue’s impressive content could make it a game changer. However, it isn’t perfect.
For one, to become a member, you’ll need to sign up on the Next Issue website and then log into the app. In other words, the app’s creators have decided not to work within Apple’s ecosystem, meaning you can’t use your iTunes account to make a purchase. You'll also see that Next Issue won't be found in Apple's native Newsstand app.
Second, Next Issue doesn’t make use of the new iPad’s Retina display, which will certainly be a deal breaker for many of our readers.
Nonetheless, Next Issue Media really wants you to try the new service and is offering new customers a 30-day free trial to do so. You will need to provide a debit or credit card to sign-up, although you won’t be charged if you cancel your account before those 30 days are up.
Next Issue comes at a challenging time for magazine publishers, who, in many cases, are finding it difficult to transition from print to electronic media.
Still, I’m content with giving Next Issue at least a month to prove to me that the iPad is quite strong at being a magazine reader, despite what our own A.T. Faust III believes.
What are you waiting for? You can download the Next Issue app for iPad in the App Store.
Do you find the Next Issue concept promising, or not so much? Not your thing? Be sure to check out our report, The Best Newsstand Magazine Apps For iPad.
