35 
iOS 5 is here — well, maybe, if you managed to update your iPhone/iPad/iPod touch OK last night. With it comes Newsstand, which is the immovable folder thing on your homescreen that’s soon to be filled with newspapers and mags.
Newsstand is meant to make magazine and newspaper consumption on iOS easier with auto-downloads, fancy covers and a nice analogue shelf for your collection. But what about the content? A pretty shelf-full of rubbish is still going to be trash.
In the UK we have a load of quality magazines, and thankfully they’re starting to make the jump to digital publishing. So, let’s have a look at some of the highlights of what’s currently available for your reading pleasure in Newsstand for the iPad.
The Guardian is getting into Newsstand in a big way with a brand new app that comes packing 86 editions for free (from the time you start using the app) with iOS-only subscriptions costing £9.99 a month. It brings the paper that you know and love (or not) to the iPad, but in a very web-like way. Worth checking out if you’re looking for a decent newspaper read on your iPad.
Yes, that bastion of quality news journalism that litters the London Underground every morning, the Metro, has made the leap to Newsstand (their free app has been available on the iPad for sometime now). It’s pretty swipey, won’t put ink all over your fingers and is free, so if you’re looking for some lighter news reporting, check it out.
Wired’s app has been on the iPad for a while now, but it’s now migrated into Newsstand. With Wired you get a bit more of a multimedia experience as illustrated by the somewhat novel but immediately annoying James Dyson front cover animation. Thankfully after the first time these things can be skipped. The iPad edition brings all that you know and love from the paper edition and gives it a digital spin. Samples of each edition are also available, so you can try before you buy at £2.49 an issue.
Combining the best of tech with the odd scantily-clad woman… what’s not to like about T3? The iPad edition has the cool design elements of a decent print gadget mag with the interactive and multimedia capabilities of the web. If you’re after an iPad mag to keep you quizzed-in offline when you simply can’t get to Giz UK, then the T3 iPad Edition isn’t a bad substitute. The T3 iPad lads have just celebrated their first birthday, so they’re currently offering the last 12 back-issues for £1.49 a pop, with the current edition at just £2.49 right now. All other issues will set you back three-quid going forward*.
The magazine for iPhone, iPad or iPod touch owners, Tap! gives you tips, tricks and a plethora of iOS related news and reviews. If you’re a hard-core iOS user, Tap!’s for you. Single issues are £2.99 a pop, while subscriptions range from £24 for a year down to £8 for 3 months*.
If you’re after the latest film reviews and insight into the biggest blockbusters and best arthouse films, Total Film magazine for the iPad should deliver that in spades. It’s £2.99 per single issue, or subscriptions range from £8.99 for 3 months*.
Geeks and Sci-Fi often go hand in hand. If you’re a fan of the Doctor, love yourself a bit of Battlestar Galactica or love the Star Trek revamp, then SFX might be right up your alley. It’ll set you back the standard £2.99 per issue, or if you’re so inclined, subscriptions start at £8.99 for 3 months*.
If you’re a gadget geek like me, you probably get a kick out of the latest and greatest sports cars. Fast Car covers everything UK car related, featuring some of the most impressive machines to come equipped with tyres. £2.99 an issue with 3, 6 and 12-month subscriptions available*.
Yeah, if you’re reading Giz UK you’re probably a gamer. Whatever your platform of choice is there’s probably an iPad magazine to sate you. Xbox World 360 is there for Xboxers, PSM3, has PS3 gamers covered, while PC Gamer caters for those with money-to-burn. A couple of cross-platform mags are also available including GamesMaster and Games, so if you’re a jack of all trades there should be something for you there*.
Of course I’ve only scratched the surface of the number and depth of magazines available on the iPad, with some 215 available at last count. Some are universal, so you can get them on both your iPad and iPhone, but not all of them. It’s a brave new world for the dying print publishing world, but so far it’s not looking too shabby.
*Full disclosure: Giz UK is published by Future, which also publishes magazines. But that’s OK — today, 10 of the 20 most popular Newsstand titles are pubbed by Future. Forward thinking, you could say.
Here's How to Put the Annoying Newsstand Icon Into a Folder in iOS 5
iOS 5's Newsstand Is More Awesome than You Think
Updated Kindle iOS App Adds a Newsstand and a PDF Reader
“Combining the best of tech with the odd scantily clad women” I don’t find their scantily clad women odd.
Good God that Photo of Liam Fox is Scary!!!
he seems to be doing his best Steve Carrel impression.
Straight out of the Gordon Brown ‘how to smile’ handbook. creepy!
Glad it’s not just me that though it was creepy
Generally dissapointed by magazines. They promise alot on the covers but all too often the articles are shallow in content, overly bias and weak on accuracy.
The internet and forums offer a fairly impressive alternative with the added dimension of discussion and public opinion.
Agreed. Personally one of the reasons I could see for getting a tablet is to do away with the “published once a month, out of date before you read them” world of magazines. especially in the tech field.
So basically Newsstand is awesome for the iPad, less awesome for the iPhone?
More or less. At the moment the focus is definitely iPad, but that may change as Newsstand matures.
There’s only so much you can do with that size of screen really (and that’s not a criticism). It’s much better suited to the iPad.
It’s mildly annoying as I keep seeing screenshots of magazines on the iPhone and thinking, “hey I’d give that a whirl” and then crushing disappointment sets in.
I wish The Week or the New Scientist were available… those are pretty much the only 2 magazines I’m genuinely interested in.
I agree. I have been consistently disappointed by magazine content in the past, particularly with regards to technology which is one of my primary interests.
Exceptions to this rule I have found in my other interests are Empire magazine (these people love movies, get some of the best interviews and insider info, and have some truly insightful in depth articles beyond just news), and PC Gamer (re-read my sentiments for Empire but apply it to games).
The only Magazine I really read is the Red Bulletin, which is really well put together and the articles are actually pretty good reads (yes, I understand its a marketing tool). The missus like Intelligent life, which isn’t as date sensitive as something like a tech magazine; which I really can’t see the point in.
The real killer for me is the price of most of the magazines. Way too expensive for imo …but I am a tight Yorkshireman!
“£2.99 per single issue, or subscriptions range from £8.99 for 3 months”
So slightly more expensive to subscribe? Awesome.
Newsstand Mac? I don’t want to subscribe to a magazine i can’t read on the big screen!
“Geeks and Sci-Fi often go hand in hand”
What place did that have in this article? That iPad users are geeks or that SF fans are geeks or both?
Anyway, good to see SFX on there and hope it will be available on other platforms too.