Nov 22, 2010
The Economist Unveils iPad, iPhone App
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The Economist on Friday launched its iPad and iPhone apps, which will be available each week at 4 p.m. Eastern time. The app itself is free
and you don't have to subscribe or buy an issue to access some of the content. Editor's highlights will feature a few select free stories from every issue.Readers have the option of purchasing individual issues for $5.99 each or a yearly subscription for $110. Existing print subscribers don't need to set up an additional subscription; just sign into an established Economist online account within the app and provide the customer reference number found on the address label of the print copy to get full access.
There's also a full audio edition available within the app, read by newscasters.
You can access The Economist app even when you're not connected to the Internet. Both the audio and readable version are cached when you access a new issue. Past issues will save on the app, and when it's opened, you can scroll through and select any of the issues you own.
To Economist readers, the app will look familiar; it's pretty consistent with the print product, and it follows a very similar format as far as organization goes. Easy to navigate, users can either flip through the issue as they would the physical magazine or navigate to stories divided by section from the one-page table of contents.
However clean and user-friendly the app is, the app leaves quite a bit to be desired. There is no video or interactive material. Virtually none of the bells and whistles that come standard with apps for other publications are present.
The Economist isn't exactly light reading, so it would be helpful if the app would allow for highlighting and annotation. However, from the settings option, there is a section where users can add their feedback, so maybe the app will be improved with later updates.
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