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Washington Post extends free iPad app subscription
The free ride on the Post iPad app was supposed to end in mid-February, but the Post app has been updated, and the iTunes Store description says that the full access subscription is still "provided for a limited time." That's the same thing that another iPad paper, The Daily, did the other day. One wonders if the newspapers are afraid to pull the plug and see how a paid version will fare. I don't blame them. App Store reviews of both endeavors have been dreadful. Maybe they are trying to set up the in-app subscriptions Apple has allowed. This latest update to the Washington Post app now includes the ability to read offline (duh!) and fixes the frequent crashes that plagued the software. I haven't seen anything in either of these efforts that would convince me to subscribe when the free trial ends. How about you? Were you enticed by the apps, or are you going to dump them when or if the free trials end?
Washington Post for iPad is a bit hard on the eyes
I've been using the Washington Post for iPad app since it was released earlier this week. It's nice to see the Post jump into the dedicated iPad app competition, but while there are some things to like about the app, there is also a lot I find extremely disappointing. The good first. Most, but not all of the Post is here. The reporters, bloggers, and columnists are in full force. The app content updates frequently, and there is an excellent multimedia section with both images and video. The Post has embraced social media, and you can see what people on Twitter and Facebook are saying about the big stories. When you bring up a story, you can also see stories from other media, like NPR and the Christian Science Monitor. That's a good idea, and lets you see a range of coverage on a subject. The Post calls this Live Topic and it's a clever innovation. Now, ahem, on to the bad. This app has the ugliest, most confusing layout I have ever seen. The screens are very busy. Nothing is intuitive, and there is no help or video explaining how to navigate. The designers of this app appear to have decided to invent their own GUI, throwing away just about every convention ever invented to make navigation easy. It's impossible to read a story full screen without other elements intruding, either ads or Twitter feeds or who knows what. Comments about this design on the app store are overwhelmingly negative. %Gallery-107137%
Washington Post iPhone app not winning very many friends
Somehow in my recent comments on News apps I missed the Washington Post effort, which has been recently updated. It's not a home run, combining a subscription cost and intrusive ads. The app, called Wash Post costs US$1.99 a year. Wash Post contains articles and photos, and it allows you to share content via Twitter or e-mail. The app has built in search, which helps to make up for some of the shortcomings I'll detail later. The Washington Post is a bit schizophrenic about their content. You can pay for this app, or you can go to their iPhone-friendly website for free. That's right -- you get the same content and pictures for free at the website that you pay for on the iPhone. Like many media companies, the Washington Post is eagerly awaiting the time when they can charge for all online content. What I don't understand is why they're charging for the content in the iPhone app and giving it away for free at the website? Why not be just a bit consistent?
