Enlarge / Apple CEO Tim Cook announcing Apple News+.
CUPERTINO, Calif.—As expected, Apple has announced a magazine subscription service built on top of its acquisition last year of Texture. Called Apple News+, it will offer fully browsable, digital versions of over 300 print magazines and newspapers like Wired, GQ, the Los Angeles Times, and the Wall Street Journal. The service also includes a number of digital-only publications. The service builds on Apple’s free news content, which aggregates content from online publications like Forbes and The Atlantic.
As presented on stage, the service closely resembles what Texture looked like before. There is a heavy emphasis on human curation, with reading lists of articles across publications on certain themes and the like. As a bonus, magazines can offer live covers, turning their splashy photos into miniature videos.
Texture was previously owned jointly by several publishers, but Apple acquired the company, its staff, and its technology for an undisclosed amount in March of 2018. According to reports, publishers make their content available on the platform and share 50 percent of the revenue with Apple. Some publishers have balked at these terms, and some are reportedly grandfathered in from their deal with Texture, meaning that their continued participation in the service is not assured.
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Source: Ars Technica – Apple News+: A newsstand of 300 glossy magazines for .99/month