Digital magazines for tablets have long had a number of problems, not the least of which being that it’s considerably easier for people to make their own “magazines” via RSS readers or other content aggregators such as Flipboard. But Digiday reports that magazine publishers are finding Apple’s Newsstand app problematic in new ways as well.
In iOS 7, Apple changed the way Newsstand worked so users were no longer notified if there was a new issue of their magazine available. It doesn’t let users put shortcuts to their magazines on their home screens either. Its ability to download issues in the background is no longer special now that other apps do it. It does not allow giving gift subscriptions, or setting temporary discounts. So what’s the point?
Judging by the emphasis at their event today, Apple seems most interested in audiovisual media these days, and less so in the printed ones. Perhaps the ongoing e-book anti-trust lawsuit has also cooled their ardor. It remains to be seen if anything can be done to improve these magazine publishers’ lot.
