Apple News+ has been out for over a month now and your free subscription has come to an end. So, you’re now asking yourself, is it worth it? Is there a better choice out there? We’ll go through all of the pros and cons so you can decide if Apple News+ is right for you.
The Pros
Apple News+ have got it covered
Apple are giving us 300+ magazines under their subscription for just under $10 a month, that’s a huge deal! They’ve covered all their bases too, offering magazines such as; Rolling Stone, Vogue, Reader’s Digest, Women’s Health, National Geographic, Bon Appétit, Golf and so many more. As you can see, Apple News+ has the most diverse selection out of any other news subscription service.
Something for everyone
One of the nicest features is that your subscription covers your entire family with Family Sharing. You just pay $9.99 a month and you, your partner and your kids will all be able to use this service which really is tremendous value. They can read it on their own devices with their own favorites and their own personal recomendations.
Private and secure
Another great feature is that Apple are not taking notes on what you’re reading. This means that whatever you’re reading, won’t follow you around the web. Apple News+ will use “on device intelligence” to make recommendations. This means that even Apple don’t know what you’re reading.
The Cons
Too good to be true?
So with all these magazines available for such a low price, is this too good to be true? Well, for us, the daily reader, it’s amazing! But is it the same from the view of the writers of these magazines? Sure, you’ll get a lot more readers to start off with, but what about the future?
A bleak future for publishers
Imagine that you, as a consumer, currently have a subscription to Wall Street Journal, at the time of writing, it costs you $1 for the first 3 month and then $28.99 +tax monthly after that, costing you around $262 for the year. It makes absolute sense for you to subscribe to Apple News+, even just for WSJ. There’s only one person who loses out here and it’s the publishers. On top of that, Publisher’s will lose out in other ways too. They won’t get to see your email address which is a vital tool in the current journalism climate. It’s also tougher to promote such things as merchandise, conference tickets etc. to help keep good quality journalism alive! This is an obstacle that they will have to overcome, but it’s already been reported that some publisher’s are struggling with the new layout too.
Magazine hoarding
One of the biggest downfalls of Apple News+ is the fact that you can’t delete magazines that you’ve downloaded onto your iOS device! To be honest, the magazines themselves dont take a lot of space and your device will automatically delete them after 30 days or if you need the space. Even so, I think giving us the option would be nicer.
The Verdict
At the moment, it’s a tough call. I see current publisher’s possibly pulling out in the future, but then again, maybe not. I would say it’s too early to tell, but i feel like Apple News+ will be the latest flop. Let’s give it a few month’s and see where it takes us.
