Following on from its big media event on Monday, Apple has released a sizable update to iOS in order to put some of its new services live.
Return of the newsstand
Primarily, this means News+, an all-new tab in the existing News app that will grant access to hundreds of beautifully-rendered digital magazines.
“We’re committed to supporting quality journalism, and with Apple News+, we want to celebrate the great work being done by magazines and news outlets,” said Lauren Kern, editor-in-chief of Apple News. “We think the breadth and quality of publications within Apple News+ will encourage more people to discover stories and titles they may never have come across before.”
Apple says that “just about every passion under the sun” is covered here, and it’s true that a huge range of popular mags are included in the subscription. Here are just a few:
The Atlantic, Better Homes & Gardens, Bon Appétit, Condé Nast Traveler, ELLE, Entertainment Weekly, ESPN The Magazine, Esquire, Food & Wine, Good Housekeeping, GQ, Health, InStyle, Martha Stewart Living, National Geographic, New York Magazine, The New Yorker, O, The Oprah Magazine, Parents, People, Real Simple, Rolling Stone, Runner’s World, Sports Illustrated, TIME, Travel + Leisure, Vanity Fair, Vogue, WIRED and Woman’s Day.
News+ also grants access to various newspapers including the Los Angeles Times and the Wall Street Journal, plus access to premium content from online-only publications including Vulture and TechCrunch.
The catch? Well, so far News+ is only available in Canada and the United States, and it’s not free – a subscription will set you back $9.99/month. However, Apple is quick to note that subscribing to all these mags individually would cost around $8,000/month (not that you would ever do that) and it’s offering the first month free to anyone who wants to trial the service.
Our advice is to get your reading glasses out and make the most of the next few weeks of unlimited magazine access! Then you can assess whether or not the service would be worth the money or not for you.
Anything else?
In addition to the addition of News+, iOS 12.2 also includes several new Animoji characters and adds the ability for Siri to seamlessly play iOS videos on your Apple TV. As ever, Apple has addressed some minor glitches and security bugs in addition to the headline-grabbing stuff. Regardless of your interest in digital magazines, it’s always a good idea to download the latest update as soon as possible.
Remember that all iOS updates are free, and can be quickly and easily delivered over the air (that is, without plugging into a computer) from Settings > General > Software Update.