Major UK newspaper The Telegraph has released a new version of its iPad app, bringing it up to v2.0. The paper is promising a “greater depth of content,” including video, crossword puzzles, image galleries and cartoon archives. More significantly however it has adopted Apple’s updated in-app subscription rules.
Editions now cost £1.19 a day, but significantly less under a £10 monthly subscription. The key is that the subscriptions are auto-renewing, something that Apple did not allow prior to a deal signed with Time. This was a major publisher demand, especially as auto-renewal is standard in print and usually involves harvesting demographic data that can be employed to attract advertisers.
The £1.19 daily cost is thought to be compensation for the 30 percent Apple takes from in-app purchases. The £10 monthly fee, however, is much less than the £26.40 per month a person might pay for print delivery. People who already do have print subscriptions can receive the iPad content for free by entering a subscriber number.
The Telegraph app is a free download for iPads running iOS 4.2 or later. Some other changes in v2.0 include the addition of a 30-day archive, and a night-reading mode that should be easier on the eyes.
