What I love and hate about magazines on the iPad

The day the iPad 2 came out in Canada, I ordered one online. Turns out it was a good choice – it’s still hard to find them in-store. Since I received it about a month ago, I’ve been having fun testing out different apps from various publishers and developers. There’s good and bad out there, of course. And it’s sure a lot easier to spend money on magazines from the couch, when you don’t have to carry them home. Here are some of my likes and dislikes about the experience so far.

Like: Convenience
No longer do I have to choose which magazine to carry with me, and fold it up in my purse so it gets crumpled and ripped, then accidentally leave it at work and have nothing to read on the way home – or, of course, run out of things to read. The iPad is an all-in-one entertainment station, and perfect for frequent travellers and commuters. I also like clearing the clutter from my coffee table, albeit slowly.

Dislike: Gimmicks
Sometimes you just want to read, you know? You don’t want to have to tap things and slide things. Condé Nast has a bit of a problem with this – for instance, the latest version of Self (all links but the last go to the iTunes store) made you tap for product info in a fashion spread, but for no good reason, because there was already too much text on the page to give the creators any aesthetic reasons to hide the where-to-buy. And some apps are finicky in how the extras work.

Like: Zinio
I have always hated digital editions – on the computer screen. The flip technology is gratuitous and having to zoom in and out is unwieldy. But I have to give it to Zinio – they were in the right place at the right time when it comes to the iPad. It’s extremely convenient to have most of my magazines in one app, and I love the availability of magazines from around the world (my university-aged self is jealous of today’s access to multilingual media).

Dislike: Zinio
That said, Zinio is going to lose its prime position if it doesn’t up its game. I’m sure publishers are to blame for some of the challenges, but the Zinio app is basic at best. Why can’t I browse magazines by country or language? Why are titles not tagged so you can view similar ones you might be interested in? Why is the text quality so low?

Like: Creativity
National Geographic is doing a great job of realizing that magazine apps don’t have to be replicas of magazines. I’ve already blogged about their photo app, and they recently released a new one called 50 Places of a Lifetime – not as good, I think, but a great example of repackaging nonetheless. Epicurious tried and, unfortunately, kind of failed with their Word Games app. New York’s The Cut is excellent. And don’t forget web-based Aggregation, from the local industry’s own Gary Campbell and to which I’ve contributed.

Dislike: File size
My 16 gig iPad (yes, I should have sprung for the 32 gig version) is going to fill up fast with these file sizes. Come on, people, we’re smart. Let’s figure something out here.

Like: Smart use of interactivity
Self has long had workout cards you can pull out of the magazine, and related videos you can access online. On the iPad, the workout videos are right there for you to watch. Simple, easy, but brilliant.

Dislike: Poor communication with readers
Dear Fast Company: Why did magazine issues disappear from your app? I’d like to read them, please.

Like: Flipboard + Instagram. And Flipboard + Longreads.
Try these to see what the non-legacy developers are doing. While you’re at it, check out the Atavist, and wish you’d done it first.

Dislike: Pretending the internet is always there
Kobo is terrible for this, but so are some magazine apps. Don’t forget many users won’t always have internet, whether they’re underground or out of wifi range. Don’t annoy them with stupid alerts or a frozen screen.

Like: Web integration
The Wired app isn’t perfect. But when I was reading the May issue on Via Rail and wanted to share an article on Facebook (a very good one about Chernobyl that you should read), it worked. It was easy. And when people clicked on the link, it took them to that article on the website.

Are you reading magazines on the iPad? What are your likes and dislikes?

6 steps to an awesome magazine iPad app

I had the pleasure this weekend of playing with National Geographic’s iPad app 50 Greatest Photographs (link goes to iTunes). Like the title suggests, the magazine team chose its 50 favourite photos and built an app around the concept, including behind-the-scenes stories and videos and a reader-driven “Your Shot” daily photo update. It’s engaging, on-brand and uses the platform well – exactly what a magazine iPad app should be. Granted, my first thought upon viewing it was to think wistfully of their budget and resources. But that doesn’t mean we can’t learn from what they’ve done. Here are a few things we can take away from this app success story.

1. Think beyond the page
The iPad platform isn’t just for digital editions. What can you do that moves beyond a replica of the magazine toward an interactive brand experience?

2. Focus
Don’t try to do everything in one app. It’s okay to focus on a single product that will serve readers well without being overly complex. It’s better to do one thing well than a lot of things badly.

3. The best things in life aren’t free
National Geographic’s app is high quality – and the magazine, as far as I know, has never been one to underprice itself. And they’re charging $4.99 for this app, which also contains a couple of ads from Canon. The lesson? If you think your app is high value, don’t be afraid to charge for it.

4. Use your archives
Remember that classic NG shot from 1984 of the Afghan refugee girl staring into the camera? It’s in here – after all, how could they leave it out? Just because it’s almost 30 years old doesn’t mean the story won’t still resonate with readers, especially younger readers who may not have seen it the first time around.

5. Do what you do best
Every magazine has a core competency that sets it apart, even if it’s not all it does. National Geographic has taken its strength in photography and run with it online in multiple ways. What does your magazine do well that could be extended to the iPad?

6. Involve your readers
One common complaint about iPad apps is that they’re siloed from the Internet. Not only has National Geographic built sharing capabilities into this app, but it includes a reader photo gallery (which, true to multiplatform publishing, is also used both on the website and in the magazine). Don’t miss any opportunity to let your readers engage with your brand and share content with their friends. Doing so builds a more engaged audience and also a bigger one.

Have you tried this app? What do you think? What other great things are magazines doing on the iPad?

Thoughts on user-generated content

Mediabistro.com has posted an overview of a session on user-generated content from the American Magazine Conference. I recommend clicking through (it’s not long) to read about some of the successes (and problems) sites such as National Geographic and This Old House have had utilizing UGC. One of my favourite points is from Edward Grinnan of Guideposts: “If I could give you one piece of advice about user-generated content… If you can figure out a way to get a dog into the content, you will get your numbers up.” (Cats work too, by the way.)