Apple News+ hasn’t even been available for a month yet, and
some publishers are already growing frustrated with it. A new report from Digiday details
how some publishers are experiencing headaches with formatting, communicating
with Apple, and more.
some publishers are already growing frustrated with it. A new report from Digiday details
how some publishers are experiencing headaches with formatting, communicating
with Apple, and more.
In its original pitches to publishers, Apple promised that it would provide
design resources and article templates. According to today’s report, which
cites communication with five publishers, Apple’s promise has proven to be
“half true.” Apple is said to be outsourcing template design to third-party
vendors:
Apple has
also refrained from actually providing article or content templates to
publishers. While it has worked directly with publishers that decided to build
their own templates for Apple News+, it has largely outsourced that the problem
of article templates to several vendors, each of which leaves something to be
desired, participating publisher sources say.
also refrained from actually providing article or content templates to
publishers. While it has worked directly with publishers that decided to build
their own templates for Apple News+, it has largely outsourced that the problem
of article templates to several vendors, each of which leaves something to be
desired, participating publisher sources say.
Some publishers are also said to be frustrated with how Apple iscommunicating with publishers. The company has given all publishers an email
address where they can send pitches, but the bigger publishers have been
invited to a private Slack channel and therefore have a more direct line of
communication with Apple:
address where they can send pitches, but the bigger publishers have been
invited to a private Slack channel and therefore have a more direct line of
communication with Apple:
But a
smaller, select group of publishers were invited to join a private Slack
channel where they could connect with Apple more directly, a move that
exasperated several sources when they were informed of the channel’s existence.
“They’re basically playing favorites,” that first source said. “It always seems
to be good for the big guys, but not for the rest of us.”
smaller, select group of publishers were invited to join a private Slack
channel where they could connect with Apple more directly, a move that
exasperated several sources when they were informed of the channel’s existence.
“They’re basically playing favorites,” that first source said. “It always seems
to be good for the big guys, but not for the rest of us.”
To generate Apple News+ content, many publishers rely on tools
that scan PDFs and concert them into digital format. The issue with this
process, however, is that the tools are buggy and require that everything be
re-edited. “The technology is buggy enough that each issue needs to effectively
be copy- and design-edited all over again, to ensure that design, formatting
and spacing have come out in one piece,” the report says citing multiple
sources.
that scan PDFs and concert them into digital format. The issue with this
process, however, is that the tools are buggy and require that everything be
re-edited. “The technology is buggy enough that each issue needs to effectively
be copy- and design-edited all over again, to ensure that design, formatting
and spacing have come out in one piece,” the report says citing multiple
sources.
Publishers then have to decide whether the Apple News+ readershipis worth manually formatting content, of if uploading scanned PDFs will
suffice:
suffice:
Smaller
magazine publishers that don’t have the resources to design their own templates
spare are stuck considering an unfavorable set of choices: Invest precious
design and development manpower to create something beautiful without knowing
if there is an audience to appreciate it; use an established template, which
makes your content look exactly like that of dozens of other publishers; or
wait things out with a PDF, and hope that having a different user experience
doesn’t cost you readers.
magazine publishers that don’t have the resources to design their own templates
spare are stuck considering an unfavorable set of choices: Invest precious
design and development manpower to create something beautiful without knowing
if there is an audience to appreciate it; use an established template, which
makes your content look exactly like that of dozens of other publishers; or
wait things out with a PDF, and hope that having a different user experience
doesn’t cost you readers.
Ultimately, the report says that the early issues plaguing Apple
News+ “do not bode well for its long-term future unless Apple adapts its
approach.”
News+ “do not bode well for its long-term future unless Apple adapts its
approach.”
Whether or not these issues prove big enough in the long run toaffect Apple News+ remains to be seen. If the formatting headaches continue,
however, it’s likely that Apple News+ will become collections of scanned PDFs –
and that’s a hard sell at $9.99 per month.
however, it’s likely that Apple News+ will become collections of scanned PDFs –
and that’s a hard sell at $9.99 per month.